
Class 
Book- 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 




m^-K 




srAimtmmy .a^.ii 



^NEW YORK 



AND ITS ENVIRONS 



BY 



/ 



X^USTAV KOBBF 

AUTJKIR OK "jersey COAST AND PINES " KTC. 



WITH MAPS 




NEW YORK 

HARPER & BROTHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE 

189I 



W/. \m,.. 



Copyright, 1891, by Hakpek & Bno-fhERS. 

Ali righls reserved. 



•H] 



TO 

EDWARD D. ADAMS, 

IN A SUGGESTION FROM AVHOSE FERTILE MIND THE ATTTHOR's FIKBT 
GUIDE-BOOK HAD ITS ORIGIN. 



^^ z:~. 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Liberty Enlightening the World Frontispiece. 

Elevated Railroad Opposite page 37 

Trinity Church " " ^^ 

Washington Statue " '" 102 

East River Bridge " " 138 

St. Patrick's Cathedral . ■' " 190 

Yanderbilt Houses " " 19G 

Obelisk " " 340 

Menagerie (Central Park) " " 244 

Terrace and Esplanade, (Central Park) — " " 248 



MAPS AND PLANS. 

New York City In front of book. 

Central Park Opposite page 238 

New York and Vicinity " " 204 

Manhattan Elevated Railroad " " 36 

Metropolitan Museum op Art, 1st floor 

*' 2d '' 



CONTENTS 



INTRODUCTORY. 

Topogrraphy and Statistics.— History.— Routes of Travel. 
— Bajif?ase Inspection.— Street Car Lines.— Elevated Kail- 
roads— Hotels.— Restaurants.— Newspapers.— Amusements. 
—Turkish and Russian Baths.— Foreign Consuls. —Bankers.— 
Banks.— Postal Information.— Messenger Service.— Express 
Service.— Telegraph and Cable Rates.— Stores.— Lavi' Courts. 
—Charity.— Colleges.— Clubs.— Athletics and Sport.— Money. 
—Directories and Railway Guides 11 

CHAPTER I. 

B dloe's Island (Statue of Liberty), Ellis Island (Immi- 
grant Depot) and Governor's Island G9 

CHAPTER II. 
Battery to Wall Street. 
The Battery.— Barge Office.— Fraunces' Tavern.— Pro- 
duce Exchauge. —Bowling Green.— Washington Headquar- 
ters (No. 1 Broadway). —Trinity Church 76 

CHAPTER III. 

Wall Street. 

Stock Exchange.— Sub-Treasury.— Ass;iy Office.— Office 

Buildings.— Custom House 97 

CHAPTER IV. 
Wall Street to City Hall Park, 
Equitable Building. -Signal Service.— Chamber of Com- 
merce.— Western Union Building- John Street M. E. 
Church.— Fulton Street Prayer Meeting. —Oldest House in 
New York.— St. Paul's Chapel— Post Office 110 

CHAPTER V. 

City Hall Park and Vicinity. 

City Hall.— Governor's Room.— Register's Office.- New 

Court House.— East River Bridge 131 

CHAPTER VI. 

Detours from City Hall Park. 

Harper & Brothers.— Cherry Street.— Newsboys' Lodging- 

House-Chinatown— Bowery. -Five Points 141 



CHAPTER VII. 
CtTY Hall Pauk to Madison SyuAiiE. 
Grand Street. —Board of Education — Polish Jew Qiiar- 
ter.^Ludlow Street Jail.— St. Auj^ustine Chapel.— Police 
Headquarters —Board of Health.— Abtor Library.— Cooper 
Union.— Bible House. -^ t. Mark's P. E. Church— Historical 
Society.— A. T. Stewart's.— Grace Church.— Union Square.— 
Young Women's Christian Association. -Retail Shopping 
District 150 

CHAPTER VIII. 
Fifth avenue. 
Washington Square.— New York Hospital.— Twenty-third 
Street.— National Academy of Design.— Madison Square.— 
John Jacob Astor.- Union League Club — Grand Central De- 
pot—St. Bartholomew's P. E. Church and Mission.— Jay 
Gould. —Columbia College.— St. Pati'ick's Cathedral.— Van- 
derbilt Houses.— St. Tiiomas's P. p]. Church 169 

CHAPTER IX. 
Metropolitan Museum of Art - Lenox Library.— Ameri- 
can Museum of Natural History 20:^ 

CHAPTER X. 
Central Park. 
General Features.- Obelisk.— Statues.— Menagerie.- De- 
tailed Tour 238 

CHAPTER XI. 

East of Central Park. 

Fire Department. West and Nortliwest of Central Park. 

—Riverside Park.— (irants Tomb.— igh Bridge.— Battle of 

Harlem Heiglits 2.-)l 

CHAPTER XII. 

Public Charities and Correction. 

BellevueHospital.— Morgue.— Blackwell's Island. —Ward's 

Island.— Randall's Island.- -Hart's Island 259 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Environs. 

Long Island —Je; sev Coast. —Hudson River.— Staten 

Island. 2G4 



PREFACE. 

This aims to be a work worthy of the great city to 
which it is a guide. It is not intended to usurp the 
functions of a directory; but to point out and describe 
such features of New York City and its varied life, as 
an intelligent and cultured stranger might be interested 
in seeing, care having been taken to discriminate between 
what is of interest to New Yorkers only and what a visitor 
t o the city would find worthy of attention. There is much 
in New York which must be familiar to those who have 
long resided in it or have been enterprising enough to 
explore it, which can have no place in a guide, if only 
because too many details would tend to confuse rather 
than enlighten a stranger. Yet the author believes that 
many New Yorkers who consider themselves familiar 
with their city may first learn from this book what a 
really wonderful and attractive place they live in. Con- 
siderable historical nuitter has been introduced in the 
description of what may, by comparison, be called the 
ancient part of the city — that portion of it which lies 
below Canal street — for only in this way could an ade- 
quate idea be conveyed of the developement of the little 
Dutch trading post of New Amsterdam to the stately 
metropolis of the New World. The stockade erected along 
the present line of Wall street as a means of defense 
against Indian attacks; the skiff which constituted the 
ferry to Brooklyn, starting from what is now the corner 
of Exchange place and Broad street, down the ditch 
which ran through the latter street; cattle grazing on 
the common pasture where City Hall Park now is; 



10 

anglers casting their lines in the Fresh Water Pond or 
Collect where the Tombs now stands; — such historical 
data will, it is hoped, serve to emphasize the contrast 
between the New York of to-day and the New York of 
the past. 

The main portion of the book is arranged in the form 
of an itineracy. This is preceded by an Introduction 
giving general information regarding the city's topogra- 
phy and history; routes of travel, hotels, restaurants, 
shops, postal and telegraph facilities and similar mat- 
ters. The itineracy begins at the southern end of the 
city. The islands in the harbor are first described. 
Then, starting at the Battery, the stranger is conducted 
up Whitehall street to Bowling Green ; from there up 
Broadway to Madison square and thence up Fifth ave- 
nue to Central Park, detours being made to points of 
interest east and west of the main thoroughfares. The 
Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Lenox Library and 
the American Museum of Natural History are then 
described, and a chapter on Central Park follows, the 
itineracy concluding with a description of those parts of 
the city east, west and north of the Park. A chapter is 
then devoted to points of interest in the environs of New 
York. The author will consider it a favor if any one dis- 
covering mistakes of commission or omission will call 
his attention to them. 

GUSTAV KOBBE. 
Short Hills, 

Essex County, New Jersey, 



INTRODUCTORY. 



TOPOGRAPHY AND STATISTICS. 

Topography.— New York City is situated : latitude, 40°, 
42" 40' north; longitude, 74°, 0" 3' west, at the mouth 
of the Hudson river, 18 miles from the Atlantic ocean, 
190 miles southwest of Boston, 205 miles northeast of 
Washington, and 715 miles east of Chicago. It com- 
prises the Island of Maidiattati, Governor's, Bedloe's 
(Liberty), and Ellis Islands in the bay, occupied, how- 
ever, by the United States Government ; Blackwell's, 
Ward's and Randall's Islands in the East river, and so 
much of the maiidand north of the Harlem river, which 
is bounded north bj the city of Yonkers, west by the 
Hudson river and east by the Bronx river. Its greatest 
length from the Battery to its most northerly point is 16 
miles ; its greatest width, from the mouth of the Bronx 
to the Hudson river, 4.}/^ miles ; its area, 41 1< square 
miles (26,500 acres). 

The most im])ortant part of the City is the Island 
of Manhattan, VS^ miles long and 2^ miles wide at its 
widest point, at Fourteenth street, being very much 
narrower both below and above this line, especially at 
the Battery and above One Hundred and Sixtieth street, 
where it narrows to a strip between the Harlem and the 
Hudson rivers. Its area is 22 S(]uare miles (14,000 acres). 
Its boundaries are : North, Spiiyten Duyvil creek and 
the Harlem river; west, the Hudson river; east, the 
East river ; south, by New York bay. The highest 
point, 288 feet above tide water, is at Washington 
Heights, and the extreme northern })oint is the termina- 
tion of the bold bluff which rises between the Hudson 
and Harlem rivers. Various sections of the City have 
local names. Yorkville begins at Eighty-sixth street on 
the East side and runs to Harlem, which extends from 
about One Hundred and Tenth street north and north- 
east of Central Park to One Hundred aiul Fifty-ninth 
street, embracing the section east of Eighth avenue. 
Bloomingdale, Manhattanville. Carmansville and Wash- 
ington Heights. The last named, with Fort Washington, 
are on the west side of the upper part of the Island of 



IS 

Manhattan. (See large map of City.) So much of the 
City as lies on the mainland is called the "* Annexed Dis- 
trict." Here are, among other localities, all shown on 
the map of the City, Morrisania, West Farms, Tremont, 
Fordham, Williamsbridge and W^oodlawn. 

Popalation and Structures. — The total iniml^er of 
structures of all kinds in New York City lias been enu- 
merated at about 107.000, of which some 71.000 are below 
Fifty-ninth street, 75,000 being used wholly or in part 
for dwellings. The population of New Yoi-k City is a 
matter of dispute between the Federal Census Burenu 
and the City authorities, the Federal census placing it at 
1,518,501, and tiie census made under the supervision of 
the City authorities at 1.710,715. When, as is the case 
with London, not oidy the City itself, but what might 
properly be called tlie "Metropolitan Disti-ict. the suburbs 
lying within a radius of twenty miles of New York, is 
c'onsidered, the population is very much larger, probably 
approaching 3.000.000. 

Food Supptif. — The annual food supply for this popu- 
lation has been computed as follows : Beef. 423,056.500 
lbs. ; Veal, 367,105,000 lbs. ; Mutton and Lamb, 78,749.- 
OOO lbs. ; Pork, 244.465,300 lbs. Total. 1,113.758.000 lbs. 
Fish, 54,750,000 lbs.; Oysters, about 15,000,000 a day 
during the season, from Septend)pr 1st to May 1st: Poul- 
try, 73,436,000 lbs. ; Eggs, 66,862.400: Butter. 84.671.400 
lbs. ; Vegetables, 8.0'JO barrels a day. For Wines s e 
Commercial Statistics below. 

Groton Aqueducts. — New York's water supi)ly is de- 
rived from the Croton water-shed, the Croton river 
being a stream in Westchester County, about 40 miles 
from New York and emptying into the Hudson. The 
various lakes and streams which makeup this water-shed 
are carefully guarded against pollution. The first 
Croton aqueduct was built-in 1842. Its capacity for the 
last 16 years has been 94,744,742 gallons per day. the 
water flowing into it from Croton Lake, artificially 
formed by a dam at the head of the aqueduct, which 
raised the Croton river 40 feet. There are also storage 
reservoirs. From Croton Lake the old aqueduct runs 
southwest, crossing the Harlem river by High Bridge, 
, where there is a reservoir and a water-towei" for supply- 
ing the upper part of the city; another tower being at 



13 

Ninth avenue, Ei<:^hty-seventli and Eighty-eighth streets. 
The main reservoirs "are those in Central Vavk, which 
are respectively a retaining and a receiving reservoii-. 
the former, tlie more nortiierly, having a capacity of 
1,000,00(),0<)0 gallons and the receiving reservoir of 150,- 
000,000; the high-service reservoir at High Bridge hav- 
ing a capacity of 11,000,000 gallons. The sup[)ly not 
proving adequate, on account of the remarkable growth 
of the city, an act for the construction of a new aque- 
duct and the incidental reservoirs and dams was passed 
in 1888. This new aqueduct has been in operation since 
June. 1890, although a complete system of reservoirs 
and dams has not yet been constructed. The new aque- 
duct also taps the ('r.)ton water-shed at a point near the 
present Croton Lake, and runs to a gate-house at One 
Hundred and Thirty-fifth street and Convent avenue 
and thence through pipes to various points, including 
the i-eservoirs in Central Park. It is considered a great 
work of engineering. It was constructed horse-shoe 
shape at an iiverage depth of 170 feet below the sui-face, 
tunneling through solid rock being resorted to wherever 
it was found practicable. Instead of lieing led across 
the Harlem river on a bridge, as the old aqueduct was 
across High Bridge, it runs 307 feet below the river bed 
through solid rock, rising perpendiculai'ly to the estab- 
lished grade from the south shore of the river. The 
following are some of the statistics of the new aqueduct : 
Length, 33^ miles; lieight of inside horse-shoe, 13.53' 
at greatest height, and 13.60' at greatest breadth to the 
Harlem river; beneath the Harlem river a well 10| feet 
in diameter; capacity 250,000,000 gallons per day. Cost 
so far about $'22,000,000. Changes are contemplated in 
the original plans for storage reservoirs in the Croton 
water-shed, so that information concerning these cannot 
yet be given, nor can the full cost of the work be esti- 
mated until plans are finally adopted. 

Street Plan. — According to the last Quarterly Report 
of the Department of Public Works the total length of 
paved streets in New York City is 361.19 miles ; of 
sewers, 436.58 miles; and there are in use 26,981 gas 
lamp-i, 881 electric lights, and 138 naphtha lamps. 

From the Battery to Fourteenth street, a distance of 
21^ miles, the streets are irregularly laid out, following, 



14 

ospecially in llie lower })art of this section, the lines of 
old thoroughfares. Above Fourteenth street tlie city is 
laid out into avenues — 1 to 12, and A, B, C, D east of 
First avenue, where the broadening of the city neces- 
sitates; with Lexington and Madison avenues above 
Twenty-third street, and Park avenue built over 
Fourth avenue from Thirty-fourth street to Forty- 
second street, the Fourth avenue horse-cars running 
under it through a tunnel, Fourth avenue continu- 
ing again above the Grand Central Depot. So nnich 
of the city as lies on the mainland is not, however, 
regularity laid out as yet ; nor in the northwest and 
extreme northerly part of the Island is the division of 
avenues and streets characteiistic of the street plan from 
Fourteenth to Fifty-ninth street exactly cairied out. In 
this regular street plan the avenues are mostly 100 feet 
and the streets 60 feet wide, with the exception of import- 
ant thoroughfares like Fourteenth, Twenty-third, Thirty- 
fourth, Forty-second, Fifty-seventh, and other streets in 
the upper i)art of the city, which are lt»0 feet wide, 
Thei-e are twenty blocks to a mile. The house numbers run 
from Fifth avenue east and west, the odd numbers being 
on tiie upper side, the even numbers on the south side of 
the streets, and respectively on the west and east sides of 
the avenues. The sti'eet numbers are so divided as to 
give 100 to a block, from 1 to 100 west or east being found 
on the first block west or east of Fifth avenue, and so on. 
Bi'oadway, which below Fourteenth street is the main 
artery of the city's commerce, is only 80 feet broad. 
Beginning at Bowling Green it runs in a straight line to 
Tenth street, wheie it deflects towards the west and 
continues on the line of tiie old Bloomingdale road to a 
point at Fifty-ninth street between Seventh and Eighth 
avenues. Ihe Boulevard, which continues Broadway to 
Inwood, near the end of the Island, is 150 feet wide and 
is a well laid-out thoroughfare, as is also St. Nicholas 
avenue, which leaves Central Park at Sixth avenue and 
One Hundred and Tenth street and runs to One Hundred 
and Fifty-fifth street, at which point it joins the old 
KingsV)ridge road. Wall street, in some respects the 
most important street in the United States being the 
financial centre of the whole country, is a narrow cailon 
less than half a mile long. 



15 

Political Divisions. — The City is divided into twenty- 
four Wards — the Twenty-third and Twenty-fourtli being 
on the mainland — Ijut I'or purposes of representation in 
Congress, the State Senate and the State Assembly is 
also divided into Congressional, Senatorial and Assembly 
districts. These larger divisions are in turn subdivided 
into election districts. 

Commerce. — New York is the most important port of the 
United States, about 65 per cent, of the entire foreign com- 
merce of this country being carried on through it. As a 
port of entry it embraces all the towns and cities and 
other settlements on New York Bay, the Hudson and 
East rivers, including the important cities of Brook- 
lyn and Jersey City. Some interesting statistics of the 
City's entries and clearances of vessels will be found 
under Custom House. Other commercial statistics , ob- 
tained from the Chamber of Commerce and showing 
the relative commercial importance of New York and 
the rest of the United States, are as follows: The 
total foreign commerce of the United States for 1889, 
latest statistics accessible, was $1,613,137,633, of which 
$876,808,110 fell to New York. Sugar and molasses, 
New York $44,367,704; the rest of the United States 
only about $5,000,000 more. Coffee, New York 
$58,860,319; the rest of the United States only about 
$16,000,000, all told. Tea, New York $9,643,514: the 
rest of the United States only about $3,000,000, all 
told. Wool, New York $41,048,679 as against about 
$11,500,000. Sillv, New York $31,129,113 as against 
about $6,225,000. Champagne, New York $3,672,752 
as against about $750,000. Still Wines in casks, 
$1,502,208 as against about five-eighths of a million: in 
bottles, New York $975,861 as against about $850,000. 
About 75 per cent, of the immigration into the United 
States passes through New York. 

Wetter Front. — The Island of Manhattan alone has 
24^4 miles of water front, all but 2^{ miles of which, on 
the Harlem River is available for deep sea vessels, and a 
ship canal, now in course of construction by the United 
States Government, will make the Harlem River front 
equally available, besides affording a route from Long 
Island Sound independent of the passage through Hell 
Gate. At present most of the shipping is accommodated 



16 

below Fourteenth street on tlie North River and on the 
East River below Grand street. From tiie liattery to 
tliese points there is a perfect forest of masts, shi{)S of 
all nations, among them many steamers being moored 
iiere. A great improvement and extension of New 
York's water front is in contemplation, but at present 
tills important feature of the city is picturesque chiefly 
through its dirty surroundings and its irregularity. 
The large map of the city in the front of the book shows 
the various ferries and steamship lines. The Battery is 
given up chiefly to ferries. From here tlie tour of the 
East River lies along South street. To Coenties slip 
the piers are lined with small sailing vessels, Coenties 
slip being the center for canal-boats ; and beyond, 
between Wall and Fulton street ferries, are large and 
small sy,iling vessels, numy of them fruiterers, and sev- 
eral steamship lines. Tlie piers near Fulton Market 
derive a local color from the fishing smacks that cluster 
near the wholesale flsh-market under the shadow of the 
great East River Bridge. Above Catherine street are 
the dry docks, and beyond these iron foundries, lumber- 
yards and gas-works. Pier A, to the north of the Bat- 
tery, is used as headquarters for the Department of 
Docks and fc>r the River Police. Pier 1 is the Iron 
Steamboat Company's pier. At Fulton and Yesey 
streets is Washington Market, and in its vicinity the 
great produce-distributing district of the city, the piers 
here being used for ferries and f<>r various vessels tribu- 
tary to this business. At Warren atid Murray streets 
are the great Boston boars, the Providence and Fall 
River lines, and from here to Twenty-third street a suc- 
cession of foreign and domestic steamship companies. 
The gi'eat European steamships have piers in the neigh- 
borhood of Christopher street, and just above tliis is the 
floating oyster-market, a series of moored barges. 

Approaches by Water. — The approaches to New York 
from the Atlantic ocean are most beautiful. The light- 
house on Fire Island beach on the Long Island coast is 
usually the first point sighted by incoming European 
vessels. From here vessels are signaled by telegraph 
to New York City. Tiie most conspicuous picture 
on the Jersey coast, whicli soon afterwards looms up. 
are the twin lights on the Highlands of Navesink, back 



1 



17 

of Sandy Hook beach. The steamers in entering the 
Lower bay approacli so near Sandy Hook that the details 
of its shore — a waste of sand, stunted cedars and scrub 
oak, with a liglit-house and two beacons, a telegraph 
tower from which vessels are also signalled, an unfinished 
fort, and various apparatus of the United States Ord- 
nance Corps — are discernible. Between Sandy Hook, 
which is part of a sandy peninsula and the mainland, 
is Sanily Hook bay. To the north and northwest is 
Staten Island. Between its south shore and the New 
Jersey shore is Raritan bay, into which the linritan river 
empties, and on the west Staten Island is separated 
from New Jersey by the narrow Staten Island Sound, 
which joins the Kill von KuU — the latter separating the 
Island on the north from the mainland and entering 
New York bay. The broad sheet of water lying between 
Sandy Hook and the Narrows is known as Lower New 
York bay, of which Karitan bay and Sandy Hook bay 
may be considered parts. Across from Sandy Hook, on 
the Long Lsland shore, are Coney Island and Rockaway 
Beach, the former with its numerous lai-ge caravansa- 
ries, its Observatory and huge wooden elephant, while to 
the north the Staten Island and Long Island shores, 
approaching each other, form the Narrows, the gateway 
into New York bay — the almost land-locked, secluded, 
yet vast hjirbor of New York. The first station under 
the jurisdiction of the Commissioners of Quarantine 
is the ship Illinois, anchored from May 1st to November 
1st, three miles below Swinburne Island. From this 
ship all vessels arriving from infected ports are boarded. 
Three miles above this are Swinburne and Hoffman 
Islands, artificially made upon a reef, and respectively 
seven and eight miles south of New York City; the 
hospital for contagious diseases being located on 
Swinbuine Island, and quarters for well persons from 
infected vessels on Hoffman Island. Vessels from 
non-infected ports are boarded from Clifton, Staten 
Island, just inside the Narrows, where also the 
Custom House Inspector usually boards vessels from 
foreign ports. On the Staten Island shore of the Nar- 
rows is Fort Wadsworth; on ti)e Long Island shore. 
Fort Hamilton ; a little off the shore, the circular Fort 
Lafayette, built in 1812, where during the Civil War 



18 

political suspects were imprisoned. Once throuo^h the 
Narrows. New York City lies straight ahead — to tlieri<^ht 
Brooklyn, to the left Staten Island, and further u}) the 
harbor Bergen Neck and Jersey City. The Statue of 
Liberty on Bedloe's Island (p. 69), and the East liiver 
Bridge (p.l38\ become next to the city the most con- 
spicuous features in the view. Governor's Island, with its 
picturesque fortifications lies but a thousand yards south 
of the BatteiT, the southernmost point of the Island of 
Manhattan, and Ellis Island, where is the official funnel 
through which three-fourths of the immigration pours 
into the United States lies between Bedloe's Island and 
the Jersey shore. At the Battery the harbor sweeps 
around on the east into the East river (the local name 
for Long Island Sound), and on the west into the Hud- 
son, to which the local name of North river is given. 
The great Eui-o{)ean steamship lines have their piers on 
the North river, the English lines on the New York side. 
the German, Dutch ancl Belgian on the New Jersey side, 
the North German Lloyd (Bremen) and Hamburgh piers 
being at Hoboken. The East river runs between New 
York City and Brooklyn, broadening out after sweeping 
to the east from the Island of Manhattan into the beau- 
tiful expanse of Long Island Sound, 110 miles long and 
from three to twenty miles wide, with Long Island on the 
east and New York and Connecticut on the west. On 
Throgg's Neck, about twenty miles from the Battery, and 
on Willet's Point, on the opposite shore, are fortifications, 
those on tlie foi-mer being Fort Schuyler. On the East 
river are Blackwell's, Ward's and Randall's Islands, 
which are described under Public Ciiarities and Correc- 
tion. 

Hell Gate lies in the narrow l)end in the East river, 
just north of Blackwell's Island, l)etween Astoria and 
Ward's Island. Navigation of it was made dangerous 
Tiot only by the sharp and narrow turn of the river and 
the resulting rush of tide, but also by a ledge of rocks 
))rojecting from the Long Island shore for a considerable 
distance and rising at various intervals almost to the 
surface, causing numerous dangerous currents and 
eddies. From 1870 to 1876, under the United States 
Government, Gen. Newton directed a series of opera- 
tions, drilling the principal rocks and charging them 



19 

with iiitro-glyceriTie, which was exploded during th*^ 
suiiiiner of 1876. October 10. 1885, Flood Rock, which 
was even hirger tlian the rock blown u}) in 1876, was re- 
moved by similar operations. 

HISTORY. 

The Island of jManhattan was discovered by Henry 
Hudson, after whom the Hudson river is named, iii 
September, 1609. Though the Dutch, in whose service 
Hudson's expedition was undertaken, dispatched trad- 
ing vessels to this region, the first settlement on the 
island appears to have been made in 1623, and it was not 
until 1634 that a governor, Cornelis Jacobson May, was 
installed. In 1625 May was succeeded by William Ver- 
hulst, and he in turn, in 1626, by Peter Minuit. under 
whose administration Fort Amsterdam, on ground now 
just soutli of Bowling Green, was erected (p. 84). The 
purchase of Manhattan Island from the Indians was 
effected by Minuit, the pi'ice paid being goods to the 
value of $24. In 1644 the fortifications were extended 
to what is now the line of Wall street, and ran from the 
I'last to the North river. They consisted of a ditch and 
palisaded bi'eastwork, these being completed in 1653. 
Meanwhile Peter Stuyvesant. who was governor for seven- 
teen years and under whom the rule of the Dutch virtually 
terminated, although there was a brief interregnum in 
1673, had arrived in 1647. March 12, 1664. Charles II 
granted the entire territory to his brother, the Duke of 
York, and the hitter's representative, Col. Richard 
Nichols, arriving before New Amsterdam with a small 
fleet, the city was surrendered without an attempt to 
resist the superior force. New Amsterdam was changed 
to New York, Col. Nichols assuming the governorship. 
In July, 1673, Capt. Manning, being in command of the 
city, sun-endered ignominiously to a Dutch force, but 
the Dutch remained in possession only until November 
10, 1674, being ousted by the treaty of peace between 
England and the States General. Events of import- 
ance prior to the rupture of the colonies from Great 
Britain were : In 1689, a rebellion headed by Jacob 
Leisler, the leader of the progressive party, who chose 
these forcible means to settle a disputed election, the 
rebellion ending in his trial and death ; in 1696, the 



26 

Imilding: of tho first Trinity Churcli ; in 1702 a 
fatal epidemic; in 1785, tlie Zenj^er trial, uiiich estab- 
lished the fi'eedoin of tlie press in America, Zenger in 
Ills Neiv York Weekly Journal, having opposed Gov. 
Cosby's claim to half the salary of his predecessor, and 
having been therefor imprisoned for libel, bnt eventu- 
ally acquitted on a trial by jury; in 1741, the negro plot, 
information on the part of a negi-ess leading to the 
hanging of some and j)urning of other negroes, who were 
supposed to be in a cons|)iracy to attack the whites and 
sack the city, althougii there seems but little doubt that 
the girl's testimony was ]ierjured. The dissatisfaction 
which led to the Revolution and the final separation of 
the colonies from Great Britain first vented itself in Xew 
York in 1765, a congress of delegates from nine colonies 
meeting here and adopting a bill of rights, which asserted 
the sole power of taxation to be vested in the colonies. 
The Sons of Liberty were organized to opj)ose the Stamp 
Act, and in 1770 a meeting of 8,000 citizens resolved to 
oppose all oppressive measures. The Colonial Assembly 
terminated April 3, 1775, delegates to the Continental 
Congress being elected July 25th of that year, and the 
twenty-one pieces of cannon, all that were mounted on the 
city forts, were removed. After the battle of Long Island, 
September 15, 177G, tiie British crossed to Manhattan 
Island, and after Washington had withdrawn from 
Ilarlem Tleighisthe city remained in the j^ossession of 
tiie British until the close of the wai-. the final evacua- 
tion taking place November 25, 1768, During the 
Revolution there were two disastrous fires, in the first 
of which, St-ptember 21, 1776, Trinity Church was 
destroyed. The British iiad used all the churches ex- 
cepting the Episcopal for prisons, riding-schools and 
bari'acks, leaving iheni nearly desti'oycd or in a state ill 
adapted for religious uses, and had wroui^ht other depre- 
dations. Both under the Dutch and English colonial 
governors the city liad been the seat of government. 
From 1785 to 1790, it was the seat of government of 
the United States, Washington being inaugurated April 
8 ), 1789, and from 1781 to 1797 it w4s the State caintal. 
In 1788 the Hospital Riot, caused by one of the students 
in the New Vork Hospital (p. 60), who was operating 
in the dissecting-room, waving an arm from the cadaver 



31 

at so.ne boys who peeped in at liini tliroiigh the win- 
dow, a mob gratheriiig and attacking tlie building. In 
1791, 1795 and 1798, the city was visited by yellow 
fever. During the last ten years of the last century the 
city began to extend a little beyond the present City 
Hall Park. Tiie corner-stone of the City Hall was laid 
in 1808, the structure being finished in 1812. The city's 
growth from the l)eginning of the century has been very 
rapid. By 1805 it had extended beyond the Collect and 
Marsh, respectively at the site of the present Tombs and 
the line of Canal street; the Collect being filled in at this 
time and Canal street laid out. There were disastrous 
fires in 18!J4, and in 1811. By this latter year the city 
liad grown to such proportions that a commission was 
appointed to survey and lay out the island north of 
Houston street, a work which was completed in 1821. A 
further expansion was caused bv the vellow fever epi- 
demics of 1819, 1822 and 1823, "which drove people to 
the upper part of the island. Gas was generally intro- 
duced in 1825, and in this same year the completion of 
the Erie Canal further stimulated the city's growth. The 
Harlem Railroad was incorporated in 1831. Notwith- 
standing the cholera e{)idenucs of 1832 and 1834, the 
great tire of December 16, 1835 — which destroyed 648 of 
the finest commercial structures in the city, east of 
Br.)adway, Ijelow Wall street — and the great financial 
panic of 1837, the city continued to progress. The 
first Croton Aqueduct was built in 1842. July 19, 
1845. there was another great fire, which destroyed 
$5,000,000 worth of property in the district bounded by 
Broadway, Exchance place. Broad and Stone streets. 
The Astor place riots, which grew out of the riva'ry 
between Macready and Forrest, the actors, occurred in 
May, 1849, ajid resulted in the loss of several lives. A 
cholera epidemic in the summer of 1849 carried off over 
5,000 per>ons. July 14. 1853, an industrial exhit)ition 
was opened in the Crystal Palace, a fine building in the 
form of a Greek cross. It was burned in 1858. Mean- 
while there had been another cholera epidemic in 1855. 
In 1857 the Metropolitan Police was established, and the 
resistance to the act of the Legislature by Fernando 
Wood, tlien Mayor, resulted in what are known as the 
Police liiots. During the Civil War, New York fur- 



22 

iiished 116.382 men to the Federal armies. July 13, 
1863, the most serious riot from which New York has 
ever suffered broke out in opposition to the draft, the 
mob holding possession of the city for three days, the 
riot being finally quelled on the 17th. There were sev- 
eral collisions between the rioters and the troops, and it 
is estimated that over 1,000 persons were killed, among 
them several negroes, against whom the mob's fury 
seemed especially directed. July 12, 1871, 62 persons 
were killed in a i"iot which grew out of a procession of 
Orangemen in celebration of the Battle of the Boyne. 
Trouble having been apprehended, the paraders were 
provided with a militia escort, which was compelled to 
fire upon those who attacked the procession. In 1871, it 
was discovered that a ring, known as tlie Tweed ring, 
and consisting of several of the most prominent officials 
of tiie city, had been robbing the treasury, antl in the 
ensuing election in November, the opponents of the ring 
were elected, and the leader of the ring, William M. 
Tweed, and several of the conspirators were convicted 
and imprisoned, Tweed dying in prison. A portion of 
Westchester county was annexed in 1873, aiid a great 
stimulus to the growth of the city has been given by 
the elevated railroads, the first of which was built in 
1868. 



23 






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35 




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26 

RAILKOADS.i 

From Grand -Central Depot, Forty-second Street 
AND Fourth Avenue. 

New York Central and Hudson River Railroad. — To 
all points on east shore of the Hudson River, connect- 
ing at Albany for Saratoga, Lake George, both shores 
of Lake Chainplain, the Adiroiidacks and Montreal. 
Fast vestibuled car service for Buffalo and Niagara Falls 
via Utica, Syracuse and Rochester, and from Buffalo in 
connection with the Lake Shore Line and "Big Foil " 
Lines to Chicago, Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Sc. Louis. 
Connection also for Detroit. 

New ro7'k arid Harlem Railroaa. — Lake Mahopac and 
Berkshire Hills, besides many of the Westchester County 
suburbs. 

New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad.^ 
For Stanjford (connection for Ridgefield), South Nor- 
walk (connection for Litchfield), Bridgeport (connection 
for Stockljridge and Lenox), New Haven, Hartford, 
Springfield, and Boston. Also for Quebec. 

New York mid Boston Shore Line. — Runs on the 
tracks of the New York, New Haven and Hartford to 
New Haven; to Boston via the shore of Long Island 
Sound (New London and Stonington) and Providence. 

New York and Nt^ir Etnihnid Railroad. — Runs on the 
tracks of the >sew York. New Haven and Hartford Rail- 
road to New Haven, and then via Willimantic to Bost(jn. 

From other Depots. 

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. — Ferry from foot of 
Liberty street. Depot, Jersey City (Central Railroad 
of New Jei'sey). Fast vestibuled Pullman cfir service tc 
Philadelphia, Baltimore, Wasliington, Pittsburgh, 

*Foreigners will fiiul tlie service on the great railroads of the 
United States most adnairable, everytliing being done to secun. 
speed witli safety, and every consideration being paid to ILh 
comfort of the passenger Baggage to a reasonable amount 
(say a trunk and portmanteau to each passenyer) is carried free, 
the passenger receiving a clieclv for it at the ))ajiicage ofltice. 
The fares are also reasonable— in the author's experience lower 
tlum those in England or on tlie CoiUinent. Tickets can gener. 
ally be purchased at an^- t^f the '■-"-•ee hotels. 



S7 

Cleveland, Chicago, Cincinnati and St. Lonis, and all 
points west. To Philadelphia the service is over the 
Royal Blue Line, composed of the Central Railroad of 
New Jersey, Philadelphia and Reading Railroad and 
Baltimore an<l Ohio Railroad. 

Brooklyn, Bath and West Und Railroad. — Ferry foot 
of Whitehall street to Thirty-ninth street, Brooklyn. 

Central Railroad of New Jersey . — Ferry from foot of 
Liberty street. Newark, Elizabeth, Plainfield, Bound 
Brook, Eiston, Allentown and the Pennsylvania coal 
region (Wilkesbarre, Scranton, Reading and Harris- 
burg), and via Philadelphia and Reading Railroad to 
Trenton and Philadelphia. See also New Jersey South- 
ern Railroad and New York and Long Branch Railroad. 

Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. — Ferry 
from foot of Barclay or Cnristopher streets. Depot, 
Jloboken, N. J. Paterson, Lake Hopatcong, Schooley 
Mountain, Delaware Watergap, Wilkesbarre, Scranton. 
Richfield Springs, Utica, Syracuse, Oswego, Tthaca and 
Buffalo (connects for the West). Morris and Essex Di- 
vision to Newark, Orange, Summit and jMorristown. 
Also branches to J\Iontclair and Bernards ville. 

Long Island Railroad. — Ferry from East Thirty- 
fourtli street and James Slip. Depot at Hunter's Point 
(Long Island City). For Manhattan Beach, Long Bench, 
JUbylon, Shinnecock Hills, Southampton and points on 
Long Island generally. 

3Ianhattan Beach, and Coney Island Railroad. — Same 
ferries and depot as Long Island Railroa<l. 

Montclair and Greeiiwood Lake Railroad. — See New 
York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad. 

New Jersey Southern Railroad. — Finely appointed 
twin screw steamers from foot of Rector street. Depot 
at Sandy Hook, N. J. To Jersey Coast Resorts. 

Neio York and Northern. — Connects at One Hundred 
and Fifty-fifth street with Sixth and Ninth avenue Ij 
Railroad. Croton Lake, Lake Mahopac and interme- 
diate points. 

Neiv York and Sea Beach Railroad. — For Coney 
Island. Ferry foot of Whitehall street to Bay Ridge, 

Northern Railroad of New Jersey. — Same ferry and 
depot as New York, Lake Erie and Western. Piermont 
and Nyack. 



28 

Ne2v YorJi. Lake Erie and Wesiern liailroad. — Ferry 
foot of Clianihei's street or West Twenty-third street. 
Depot, Jersey City. Past vestibuled Piillinan car sei'- 
vice to the Pennsylvania coal regions; "Kiniira, Watkin's 
Glen, Rochester, Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Detroit, Cleve- 
land, Chicago. Cincinnati, Louisville and St. Louis. 

Pennsyli'ania Railroad. — Ferry foot of Desbrosses 
street or Cortlandt street. Depot, Jersey City. Fast 
vestibuled Pullman car service to Philadelphia, Wil- 
mington, Baltimore, Washington and points South, 
Southwest and West, the Pennsylvania Railroad system 
being the most extensive in America. 

New York and Long Branch Railroad. — Owned by 
the Central Rnilroad of New Jersey. Operated by IJie 
Central Railroad of New Jersey and the Pennsylvania 
Railroad. For points on the Jersey Coast to Point 
JMeasant. 

Netv York, Onian'o and Wester7i Railroad.— Ferry 
foot of Jay street oi- West Forty-second street. Depot, 
Weehawken. Utica, Rome, Oswego, Cape Vincent, 
(Thousand Islands). Buffalo (connection for the West), 
and Suspen.sion Bridge (Niagara Falls). 

West Shore Railroad. — Feri-y and (le})ot same as New 
York, Ontario and Western Railroad. Runs along the 
west shore of the Hudson River to West Point, \ew- 
Ijurgh, Kingston (Catskill Mountains) and Albany, and 
thence to Buffalo and Niagara Falls via Utica, Oswego 
and Rociiester. 

Staten Island Rapid Transit Comimny. — Ferry foot 
of Whitehall street. Depot, St. George, Staten Island. 
Points on Staten Lsland. 

Montreal to New York. — " New Canada Shoi-t Line." 
Gi'and Trunk Railroad, Delaware and Hudson Canal 
Company's Railroard (west shore of Lake Champlain); 
Hudson River Railroad. Central Vermont Railroad 
(east shore of Lake Cliamplain) and Hudson River 
Railroad. 

Ottawa to Xi'r T7;/-7r.— Canada Atlantic Railroad via 
Delaware and Hudson Canal Company's Railroail or 
Central Vermont Railroad. 

Quebec to New York. — Quebec Central via Central 
Vermont and New York, New Haven and Ilartt'onl 
Railnmd. 



29 

BAGGAGE INSPECTION. 

The Customs officer usually boards foreign vessels 
from Clifton, S. I., and distributes blank forms upon 
which the passenger designates articles subject to duty 
in his baggage. In case of a family, the senior member 
can make the statement on one form, and swear to it. 
Should any one trunk or package in the baggage contain 
dutiable articles of a value exceeding $500, or should 
its contents be so numerous or varied as to forbid a thor- 
ough examination on the vessel or wharf, it is sent to the 
public stores for appraisement. On landing at the wharf, 
the baggage when discharged is examined, and any at- 
tempt at smuggling is punished by confiscation of the 
article whose concealment has been attempted. The 
Customs officers of the United States will be found atten- 
tive and polite and liberal in their interpretation of the 
Customs laws, especially where no attempt at smuggling 
is made, the rule applicable being that a passenger is 
allowed to bring into the country articles for personal 
use as numerous and as good in quality as is consistent 
with his station in life. 



30 



^ 



STEAMBOATS 

To Principal Laiidiugrs on the Hudson River. 



LANDINGS. 



Albany, by day 

Albany, People's Line (night) 
Albany,C!tizen'.s Linelnight) 
Catskill (An)any Day Line).. 
Cornwall (t>yMary Powell). 

Fishkill Landing 

Fort Lee 

Fort Lee 

Garrison's (Albany Day Line) 
Hudson (Albany Day Line). . 
Hyde Park (by Mary Powell) 

Milton (by Mary Powell) 

Newburg (Albany Day Line) 
Newburg (by Mary Powell). 
New HambuVg(Mary Powell) 

New Hamburg 

Nvack 

Peekskill 

Poughkeepsie( Alb'yD"y Li'e) 
Poughkeepsie (Mary Powell) 
Rhinebeck(Alb'ny Day Line) 
Rondout (Albany Day Line). 
Rondout (by Mary Powell). . 

Sing Sing 

Tarrytown 

Tivoli 

Tivoli 

Troy (Albany Day Line) 

Troy ( Citizens' Line) 

West Point(Alb'ny Day Line) 
West Point (by Mary Powell) 
Yonkers 



Pier foot of 
street. 



* Vestry 

Canal 

Christopher. . 

Vestry 

Vestry 

Vestry 

*Canal 

W. 130th 

Vestry 

Vestry 

V. stry 

Vestry 

* Vestry 

Vestry 

Vestry 

Franklin 

*Harrison . . . 

* Harrison . . . 

* Vestry 

Vestry 

*Vestry 

*Vestry 

Vestry 

Franklin 

Harrison 

Jay 

Harrison . . . 

*Vestry 

W. Tenth... . 

* Vestry 

Vestry 

*Harrison . . . 

I 



Rogu- Excur 
lar. sion. 



^3 50 
2 50 
2 50 

Too 



1 r,o 
1 25 
1 00 
1 CO 
1 25 
1 25 
50 
50 
1 50 
1 25 



50 



2 50 

1 00 
1 00 



14-> 

145 

145 

115 

56 

60 

10 

10 

51 

120 

81 

72 

60 

60 



48 
76 
76 
90 
05 
95 
35 
28 
100 
100 
151 
151 
53 
53 
17 



*Laud also at foot of West Twenty-second street. 



31 



Steamboats to Landing's not on the Hudson RiYer. 



LANDINGS. 



Atlantic Highlands 

Bedloe's Island 

Blackwell's Island 

Boston, boat, via Fall River. 
Boston, by boat, via Norwich 
Boston, boat, via Providence 

Bridgeport 

Coney Island 

Glencove 

Governor's Island 

Great Neck 

Greenport 

Hartford 

Martha's Vineyard 

New Brunswick, N. J 

New Haven 

New Haven .. 

New London 

Newport 

New Rochelle 

Orient 

Perth Amboy 

Portchester 

Providence 

Red Bank 

Rockaway Beach 

Roslyn 

Rossville 

Sag Harbor 

Sand's Point 

Sandy Hook 

Saybrook 

Seabriffht 

Sea Cliff 

Shelter Island 

South Amboy 

South Norwalk 

Southold 

Stamford 

Stonington 

Whitest(me ^ 

Willet's Point 

Woodbridge 



Pier foot of 
street. 



Rector 

Whitehall . . 
26th St., E. R. 

Murray 

Watts 

Spring 

Catherine 

Pierl, N. R.. 
*Peck slip. . . 
Pier 3, E. R.. 
*Peck slip.. . 
Beekman . . . 

Peck slip 

Market 

Harrison 

Peck slip 

Cortlandt . . . . 

Spring 

Murray 

Pike 

Beekman 

Harrison. . . . 

Pike 

Spring 

Franklin 

West 23d 

*Peck slip. . . 

Vesey 

Beekman 

Peck slip. .. 

Rector ..' 

Peck slip 

Franklin 

*Peck slip.. . 
Beekman — 

Harrison 

*Beekman... 

Pike 

Pike 

Spring 

Beekman 

Pier 3, E. R.. 
Vesey 



FARES. 


Regu- 


Excur- 


lar. 


sion. 


$0 60 


$1 00 




25 


20 




3 00 




3 00 




3 00 




50 


75 


"3.5 


"60 


(iov't boat 




3.5 


60 


1 25 




1 50 


2 25 


4 00 


7 00 


50 


80 


75 


1 25 


75 


1 25 


1 40 




2 00 




25 




1 25 




25 


40 


25 




2 25 




50 


80 


. 


50 


35 


50 


25 


40 


1 25 




35 


60 


65 


1 00 


1 50 


2 25 


25 


40 


35 


50 


1 25 




30 


50 


40 


60 


1 25 




35 


50 


1 35 




25 


40 


Gov't boat 




25 


40 



r2 

i 
20 



240 

240 

225 

65 

23 

"ie 

125 
150 
180 
35 
76 
76 
120 
170 
20 
120 
24 
27 
180 
35 

30 
21 

140 
26 
20 

100 



130 
27 
48 

135 
40 

120 
13- 
14 
25 



*Land also at foot of East Thirty-first street. 



32 
FERRIES. 



FERRY. 


Fare 
3 


FROM NEW YORK TO 


Astoria 


92d St., E. R., to Astoria. 


" . . 


7 
10 


Beeknian st. E. R. to Astoria. 


Bay Ridjje 


Whitehall st. to Bay Ridge. 


Blackwell's Island 


20 


26th St. E. R. to Blackw'I's Isl'd. 


" «' 


25 


52d St. E. R. to Blackw'I's Isl'd. 


Brooklyn 


2 


Catherine st. to Main st. B'klyn 


" 


2 


Fulton St. N. Y. to Fulton st. 
Brooklyn. 


" 


2 


Whiteh'l St. to Atlantic st. B'k'n 


n 


2 


Whitehall st. to Hamilton av. 
Brooklyn. 


" 


5 


Whitehall to 39th st. So. B'klyn 





2 


Wall St. to Montague st. B'klyn 


Brooklyn, E. D . . 


2 


Grand st. E.R.to Grand st. B'k'n 


a ii 


2 


Houston St. to Grand st. B'klyn 


a a 


2 


Grand st. to Broadway, E. D. 


" " . . . . 


3 


Roosevelt St. toBroadw'y, E. D. 


" '•*.... 


3 


E. 23d St. toB'dw'y, B'k'n, E.D. 


College Point. . . . 


10 


99th St. E. R. to College Point 


Fort Lee 


10 

15 

Pass 


130th street to Fort Lee. 


(( (( 


Canal street, N. R. 


Governor's Island 


The Battery to Governor's Isl'd 


Green Point 


3 


10th st. E. R. to Greenpoint av. 


(( (( 


3 


23d St. E. R. to Greenpoint a v. 


Hart's Island 


40 


26th St. E. R. to Hart's Island 


Hoboken 


3 


Barclay st. to Newark and Fer- 
ry sts., Hoboken. 


(( 


3 


Christopher st. to Newark and 
Ferry sts., Hoboken. 


«< 


3 


14th st.N.R. to 14th st. Hob'k'n 


Hunter's Point. . . 


6 


See Long Island City. 


Jersey City 


3 


Desbrosses st. to Montgomery 
St., Jersey City. 


a a 


3 


Cortl'dtst.to M'iitg'm'y st.J.C. 


a i. 


3 


West 34th St. N. R. to Mont- 
gomery St. Jersey City. 


ti a 


3 


Liberty st. to Cen. R. R.of N. J, 
Dock. 



33 



FERRIES-Coiitiimed. 



FERRY. 


'^are 
3 


FROM NEW YORK TO 


Jersey City 


Chambers st. to Pavonia Ferrv, 






Erie R. R. Dock. 


" " 


3 


23d St. N. R. to Pavonia Ferry, 
Erie R. R. Dock. 


Long Island City. 


6 


James' Slip to Long Island City 


4t ii 


3 


34th st.E.R.toLong Isl'nd City 


Morrisania 


10 


Pier 22 E. R. to Morrisanin. 


Randall's Island. . 


25 


26th St. E.R. to Randalls Isl'nd 


" ' • 


25 


116 or 120th St. E. R. to Ran- 
dall's Island. 


'• . . 


25 


122d St. E. R. to Randall's Isl. 


Staten Island. . . . 


10 


Whitehall st. to Staten Island. 


Ward's Island . . 


20 


26th St. E. R. to Ward's Island 


'< " 


20 


115th St. East River. 


Weeiiawkcn .... 


5 


-^2(1 St. N. R. toR. R. Slip. 




5 


42d St. N. R. to Old Ferrv Slip 





i '"> 


Jay St. N. R. to R. R. Sfip. 



34 

CAB AND COACH FARES. 

Regulated by city ordinance. Complaints made to 
the Mayor's Marshal, Room 1, City Hall. It is the duty 
of every cab or coachman to hand to the passenger a 
card, giving rates, and to have the card conspicuously 
posted in his vehicle under penalty of a fine. The rates 
are in full for from 1 to 4 persons in a coach and 1 or 2 
persons in a cab or hansom. It is well for a passenger 
to make a l^aj-gain before entering. 

Cab and Hansom Bates. — 50 cents first mile or part 
thereof; 25 cents each additional mile. 25 cents for 
stops over 5 to 15 minutes. By the hour, going from 
place to place with stops at the passenger's option, $1.00 
for first hour or part thereof, and 50 cents for each suc- 
ceeding half hour or part thereof. 

Coach Bates. — .|1,00 for first mile or part thereof; 40 
cents each additional half mile or part thereof. Stops 
over 5 to 15 minutes 38 cents. By the hour |1.50; 75 
cents each succeeding half hour. 



MAIN STREET CAR LINES* 

New York City is ])retty well gridironed with horse 
and cable railroads (usual fare 5 cents). The stranger 
will generally find the elevated railroads most convenient, 
especially between distant points. Therefore only street 
railways most important from the visitor's point of view 
are given. 

South and North. 

Broadway Line. — F'rom Central Park througn Seventh 
avenue and Broadway to the Battery. Transfers at 
Barclay street to Univei>ity place branch, and at Park 
place to Seventh avenue brancli and vice versa. 

Bleecker Street and Fulton Ferry Line. — From Fulton 
Ferry to Twenty-third Street P'erry, via Broadway, 
Bleecker, Hudson, Fourteenth streets and Ninth avenue 
to Twenty-third Street. Branch from East River 
Bridge. 

'' Belt Lines.'' — Run along or near the water front 
of both the East and North rivers crossing the city 
througii Fifty-ninth street. 

* Tramways. 



1 



35 

Eighth Avenue Line. — From Broadway and Vesey 
street, via West Broadway, Hudson street to Eighth ave- 
nue, Fifty-ninth street (Central Park). 

From Broadway and Canal street, to Eighth avenue 
and One Hundred and Fifty-fourth street. 

Foitrth Avenue Line. — From Broadway and PostOfRce 
(lower end), through Park row, to Centre street, Grand 
street, Bo\very, Fourth avenue, Grand Central depot. 
Transfer cars <t Thirty-second street, to Thirty- fourth 
street or Hunters Point Ferry (Long Island Railroad). 

Mad ison Avenue Line. — Same route as Fourth Avenue 
Line to Grand Centi-a! De[)ot, to Vanderbilt avenue, 
Forty-fourtli street, Madison avenue to bridge over Har- 
lem River, to One Hundred and Thirty-eighth street 
(Mott Haven). 

Sixth Avevue Line. — From Broadway and Yesey 
street, via West Broadway, Canal, Varick, Carmine 
streets to Sixth avenue, Fifty-ninth street (Central Park). 

Third Avenue Line. — From Broadway and Park row, 
through Park row to Chatham square. Bowery, Third 
avenue, Harlem, connecting with tlie following lines : 
Harlem, Morrisa?iia, Tremont, and Fordham ; Harlem, 
Morrisania, and West Farms : Harlem and Port 3Iorris. 

Harlem and Manhattanville {High Bridge Branch). — 
From One Hundred and Twenty-fifth street, East River, 
to Xew Amsterdam avenue, to One Hundred and 
Eightietli street (cable). 

East and West. 

ChristopJier and Tenth Street Line. — From Chris- 
topher Street Fei-ry to Ferry foot East Tenth street. 

Central Cross-Town Railroad. — From Twenty-third 
street, East River Ferry, through Avenue A, to 
Eighteenth street, Broadway, Fourteenth street to Chris- 
topher Street Ferry. 

Dehrosses, Vestry, and Grand Street Line. — From 
Grand Street Ferry, through Grand street to Desbrosses 
Street Ferry. 

Fourteenth Street and Union Square Line. — Chris- 
topher Street Ferry to Fourteentii street and Fourth 
avenue. Connection by branch at Ninth avenue and 
Fourteenth street with ferry foot of West Fourteenth 
street. 



36 

Chamhers Street. — From the Erie Ferry, foot of 
Chambers street, to Duaiie, Chambers, New ('hambers 
street, James Slip. 

Grand Street Branch. — From foot of Grand street to 
Erie Ferry. 

Harlem and 3Ianhattanvilh. — From East river at 
One Hundred and Twenty-fifth street, through One 
Hundred and Twenty-fifth street to Manliattanville. 
Transfers at New Amsterdam avenue for cable road up 
New Amsterdam avenue to One Hundred and Eighty- 
seventh street. 

Tweyity -third Street and Erie Ferry. — From foot of 
West Twenty-third street to foot of East Twenty-third 
street. Bralich to Thirty-fourth Street Ferry. 

Forty-second Street and Boulevard Line. — From 
Thirty-fourth Street Ferry, East River, via First ave- 
)iue. Forty-second street. Seventh avenue, Broadway, to 
Boulevard at Seventy-second street, to Fort Lee Ferry, 
l^ranch from Thirty-fourth Street Ferry to Forty-second 
street, to West Shore Ferry, West Forty-second street. 
Branch from First avenue and One Hundred and Tenth 
street to Fort Lee Ferry. 

Fifth Avenue Stage Line. — From South Fifth avenue 
and Bleecker street, through Washington square, through 
Fifth avenue to Eighty-sixth street. 

MANHATTAN ELEVATED RAILWAY. 

DAILY, INCLUDING SUNDAYS. 

This is the most rapid and convenient local transpor- 
tation route. It has stations convenient to all im- 
portant jioints on the east side, and to all important 
points below One Hundred and Fifty-fifth street on the 
west side of the city. The accompanying map shows 
more clearly than any description the various branches 
of this important system which has contributed largely 
to the growth of the upper part of the city. Fare 5 
cents. Children under 5 years of age free. Passengers 
deposit ticket in the gate-box befoi-e entering train. 
Below are further particulars with a list of stations. An 
asterisk * after a station denotes that cross-town car 
lines pass the station. The first elevated railway in 
New York City, part of the present Ninth avenue branch, 



37 

began runnini;- in 1808. Tlie ))reseiit Six^Ji avenue 
brancli was next ope*ied in June, 1878. 

SECOND AVENUE LINE. 

This line is open from 5.30 A. M. to 11.58 P. M. 

Passengers for Thirty-fourth Street Ferry, East River, 
change cars at Thirty-fourth Street Station and take 
brancli train for ferry. No extra charge. 

Passengers to or from City Hall chaiige cars and cross 
the Bridge at Chatham Square Station. 

Passengers to or from Suburban Rapid Transit Rail- 
way ciiange cars at One Hundred and Twenty-ninth 
street. 

STATIONS. 

South Ferry,' Hanover square, Fulton street,* Frank- 
lin square, Chatham square. Canal street,* Grand street,* 
Rivington street. First street. Eighth street,* Fourteenth 
street,* Nineteenth street, Twenty-third street,* Thirty- 
fourth street,* Forty-second street,* Fiftieth street, 
Fifty-seventh street, Sixty-fifth street. Seventieth street, 
Seventy-fifth street, Eightieth street, Eighty-sixth street, 
Ninety-second street, One Huiulred and Fifth street. 
One Hundred and Eleventh street. One Hundred and 
Sixteenth street. One HuiKb'ed and Twentieth street. 
One Hundred and Twenty-seventh street. One llundied 
and Twenty-ninth street. 

T II 1 R I ) A V 1^: N IT E L I N E . 

This line, including City Hall Branch, is open at all 
hours ot the day and night. 

City Hall passengers, to or fi-om Second Avenue Line 
change cars and cross the lU'idge at Chatham Square 
Station. Direct connection made at City Hall Station, 
without going to the street, with trains crossing Brook- 
lyn Bridge 

Passengers for Grand Central Depot change cars at 
Fortv-second Street Station and take branch train, 
which is run from G.CO A. M. to 12.00 midnight. No 
extra charge. 



* Cross-town car lines. 



Passengers for Thirty-fourth Street Ferry, East 
River, change cars at Thirty-fourth Street Station and 
take branch train, which is run from 5.80 A. M. to 12.00 
midnight. 

STATIONS. 

South Ferry, Hanover square, Fulton street,* Frank- 
lin square. City Hall, Chatham square, Canal street,* 
Grand street.*' Houston street,* Ninth street,* Four- 
teenth street,* Eighteentii street,* Twenty-third street,* 
Twenty-eighth street, Thirty-fourth street,* Thirty- 
fourth Street Ferry, Forty second street,* Grand Cen- 
tral,* Forty-seventh street. Fifty-third street. Fifty- 
ninth street,* Sixty-seventh street, Seventy-sixth street. 
Eighty-fourth sti-eet, Eighty-ninth street. Ninety-eighth 
street, One Hundred antl Sixth street. One Hundred and 
Sixteenth street. One Hundred and Twenty-fifth street,* 
One Hundred and Twenty-ninth street. 

SIXTH AVENUE LINE. 

This line is open at all hours of the day and night. 

Passengers for Grand Central Depot leave train at 
Forty-second Sti-eet Station. Crosstown cars run 
between Station and T)ej)()t. Fare 5 cents. 

New Yoi-k and Noi'tiiern Railway Connection. — Trains 
connecting wit h the New York and Northern Railway 
through trains cari'v a blue disc on the forward part of 
the engine. 

Passengers for stations on Ninth Avenue Line change 
cars at Fifty-ninth Street Station. No extra charge. 

STATIONS. 
South Ferry, Battery place, Rector street, Cortlandt 
street, Park place, Chambers street,* Franklin sti-eet, 
Grand street,* Bleecker street,* Eighth street,* Four- 
teenth street,* Eighteenth street, Twenty-third street,* 
Twenty-eighth street, Thirty-third street,* Fortv-second 
street,* Fiftieth street. Fifty-eighth street. Fifty-third 
street. Fifty-ninth street,* Seventy-second street, Eighty- 
first street. Ninety-third street. One Hundred and 
rourth street, Onellundred and Si.xteenlli street, One 

* Cross-town car lines, 



39 

Iliuulred and Twenty-fifth street,* One Hundred and 
Thirty-fifth street. One Hundred and Forty-fifth street, 
One Hundred and Fiftv-fifth street. 

NINTH AVENUE LINE. 

This line is open from 5.30 A. M. to 7.57 P.M. 

Passengers for Seventy-second street, Eighty-first 
street. Ninety-third street. One Hundred and Fourth 
street, One Hundred and Sixteenth street, One Hundred 
and Twenty-fifth street (Harlem), One Hundred and 
Thirty-fifth street, One Hundred and Forty-fifth street, 
One Hundred and Fifty-fifth street. Fort Washington, 
High Bridge and the New York and Northern Railway, 
change cars at Fifty-ninth street. No extra charge. 

STATIONS. 

South Ferry, Battery place. Rector street, Cortlandt 
street, Barclay street, Warren street, Franklin street, 
Desbrosses street,* Houston street,* Christopher street,* 
Fourteenth street,* Twenty-third street, =^ Thirtieth 
street, Thirty-fourth street,* Forty-second street,* Fif- 
tieth street. Fifty-ninth street.* 

HOTELS. 

It is presumed that readers of this Guide will not care 
to patronize any but absolutely unexceptional hotels, and 
therefore only such are given. Should a reader discover 
any reason for finding fault with the service at any of these 
hotels he will confer a favor on the author by communi- 
cating the facts to him. Lodgings, in the sense in which 
the English use that term, are not to be had in New 
York. For boarding-houses reference must be had to 
the advertisements in the daily newspapers. 

The New York hotels, like those of other large cities 
of the United States, are conducted on the American or 
European plan, or on both. In the American plan the 
charge includes both room and meals; in the European 
plan the charge is for room oidy, the guest being at 
liberty to take his meals either at the hotel restaurant or 
elsewhere. Several hotels combine both plans. For a 

^=Cross-town car lines. 



40 

visitor whose business or pleasure takes liim about the 
city, tlie European plan is prefei-able, as it renders him 
independent of his hotel during the day time. Excel- 
lent rooms in iiotels on the European i)lan can be had at 
$2 a day, the ])rice niiniing- from $1 to $8, the last figure 
being for double rooms. Suites wilh sitting, bed and 
bath room, can be had at from |25 to $50 a week. 
Among the best known hotels are: 

European Plan — Aslor House, in the heart of the 
down town business district on Broadway, between Vesey 
and Barclay streets, opposite the Post Office; Brevoort, 
11 Fifth avenue, with a hirge English patronage; Buck- 
ingham, Fifth avenue and Fiftieth street (one of the 
most exclusive in the city) ; Everett, Fourth avenue and 
Seventeenth street, overlooking Union square; Gilsey, 
Broadway and Twenty-ninth street; Grand, Broadway 
and Thirty-first street; Hoffman,. 1111 Broadway (on 
Madison square); Hotel Brunswick, 225 Fifth avenue, 
on Madison square; Hotel Dam, 104 East Fifteenth 
street (near Union S(juare); Hotel Imperial, Thirty- 
second street and Broadway; Hotel Normandie, Thirty- 
eighth street and Broadway; Langliam, Fifth avenue 
and Fifty-second street (an excellent family hotel); 
Plaza, Fifth avenue and Fifty-ninth street (the main 
entrance to Central Park); aSY. James, 1138 Broad- 
way (near Madison square); Union Square, 16 Union 
square. 

American Plan — Clarendon, 219 Fourth avenue (near 
Union square) with a large English patronage; Fiftk 
Avenue, in a fine situation at Fifth avenue and Twenty- 
third street (Madison square), in the centre of the shop- 
ping and amusement district — one of the best known 
hotels in the United States; Grand Centred, (571 Broad- 
way; Metropolitan, 584 Broadway (convenient lo the 
wholesale dry goods district); Hurray Hill, Park aveiuio 
and Forty-first stieet (convenient lo the OJrand Central 
Depot); New York Hotel, 721 Broadway (a favorite hotel 
witli Southerners); Sturtevant, 118(5 Broadway; Vic- 
toria, Twenty-seventh street, Broadway, and Fifth ave- 
nue (near Madison square); Westminster, Irving place 
and Sixteenth street (a quiet neighborhood near Union 
square); Windsor, Fifth avenue and Forty-sixth street 
— one of the best known liotels in the United States. 



41 



The Clarendon and Sturfevant (see above) give their 
guests the choice of the European or American pUm. 
William Waklorf Astor is building two hotels, which 
will undoubtedly be unexceptional. Tliey are respec- 
tively at Fifth avenue and Thirty-third street (North- 
west corner) and Fifth avenue and Fifty-ninth street 
(North-east corner), overlooking the Plaza and Central 
Park. A first-class hotel is also building on the South- 
east corner of Fifth avenue and Fifty-ninth street. 



RESTAURANTS, CHOP-HOUSES AND OYSTER 
SALOONS. 

Restaurants.— The most noted restaurant in New 
York City, in fact in the United States, is Delmonico's, 
2 South William street (the site of the first restaurant 
bearing the now famous name); 22 Broad street, near 
the Stock Exchange, and south-west corner of Fifth 
avenue and Twenty-sixth street, near Madison square. 
The charges at rjiese restaurants are high, but not out of 
proportion to the excellence of the cooking and service. 
Here, as at nearly all American restaurants, "one por- 
tion " is enough for two persons, so that a meal for two 
persons W'ill not cost them more than each would have 
to pay if dining alone. Therefore, an even numbered 
party can luxuriate at Delmonico's and other first-class 
high-priced restaurants (such as the Savarin and the 
Hoffman House) at a comparatively small cost to each 
member of the party. For from $3.00 to $5.00 between 
them, two persons can secure a plain but admirably 
cooked and served dinner at such I'estaurants. Table 
dlwfe breakfasts, lunches and dinners can be had at 
vai'ious establishments, which usually serve also a la 
carte, the dinners costing from 75 cents to $1.50, gener- 
ally including a pint of vin ordijiaire (breakfast and 
lunches at proportionately less expense). Following is 
a list of reliable restaurants from downtown upwards; 
nearly all the restaurants have cafes attached. An 
asterisk implits special excellence, in the author's 
opinion. Specialties are bracketed. Braguglias-Carreno, 
18 Broadway [Spanish dishes]; *Hofi'nuin Cafe, 7 Beaver 
street; *I)elmonico, 2 S. William street; *Delmonico, 22 



42 

Broad street; Kolb, 1G4 Piarl .stre.-t: *Savanii, 120 
Broadway; Cable, Bailey & Co., 180 Broadway: *Hoff- 
inan Cafe, 60 Broadway ; J. A. P. Fisk, 70 Broad 
street; Sutherland. 64 Liberty street; Heckmaii, 122 
William street tahle dliole (in the oldest building in 
New York); Mouquin, 149 Fulton street; *Astor House, 
Broadway and Vesey street; Kacky, 21 Frankfort street 
[German — German wines]; "Rathskeller," 2 Tryon 
btow, tahle d'hote [German — imported beers]; Holtz & 
Freystedt, 349 Broadway [German — German wines]; 
Metropolitan Hotel, 584 Broadway; *Sieghortner, 82 
Lafayette Place; Vienna Bakery, Broadway and Tenth 
street [Vienna rolls, coffee, tea and chocolate]; St. Denis 
Hotel, Broadway Jind Eleventh street; Hotel Hungaria, 
4 Union S(|uare, East, table dliote [Hungarian wines]; 
Union Square Hotel, 16 Union square; Riceadonria, 
42 Union sipuire. East [Italian]; Everett House, Fourth 
avenue and Seventeenth street; Pursell, 910 Broadway, 
table d'hote; Martinelli, 136 Fifth avenue, table dliote 
[Italian]; Moretti, 12 East Twentv-first street, table 
dlwte [Italian]; Clark, N., 22 West Twenty-tiiird street; 
Albemarle Hotel, Broadway and Twenty-fourth street; 
*Hoffman House, Broadway and Twenty-fifth street; 
*Hotel Brunswick, Fifth avenue and Twenty-fifth street, 
tahle d'hote; *Delmonico, Fifth avenue and Twenty- 
sixth street; St. James Hotel, Broadway and Twenty- 
sixth street; Coleman House, Broadway and Twenty- 
seventh street; Heim, 29 West Twenty-seventh street 
[Gei-mau wines]; Drentel, 9 Vv^est Twenty-eighth street, 
table dliote; Gilsey House, Broadway and Twenty-ninth 
street; Parker's, 1,297 Broadway (lai-gely patronized by 
sportsmen); Muiray Hill, Park avenue and Forty-fir.st 
street; Gi-and Union Hotel, Fourth avenue and Forty- 
second street. 

Chop-Houses. — "Old Tom's," Thames street (rear of 
Trinity Church); Farrish, 64 John street; EschbacL, 
Fourth avenue, between Twentieth and Twenty-first 
streets; "Studif*," Sixth avenue, between Twentieth 
and Twenty-first streets ; Browne, 31 West Twenty- 
seventh street. 

OvsTER Saloons. — Oyster saloons are scattered all 
over the city, and the character of the cooking and ser- 
vice call generally be judged of by appearance-. Oysters 



43 

are served at nearly all good restaurants in New York. 
S[)ecially well-known oyster saloons are A. & P. Dorlon, 
Fulton Market; O^Neill, 358 Sixth avenue; Burns, 783 
and 904 Sixth avenue. 



BILLIARDS. 

Nearly all the large liotels have well equipped billiard 
rooms. Best known among other billiard rooms are the 
''Columbia," 948 Broadway, and Sexton's, 1,292 Broad- 
way. 

LIBRARIES. 

Apprentices', 18 East Sixteenth street (8 A. M.— 9 P. 
M.); Aster, Lafavette Place (9 A. M.— 5 P. M. : 4.30 P. 
M. in winter); City, City Hall (10 A. M.— 4 P. M.); Col- 
umbia College, Forty-ninth street and Madison avenue 
(8 A. M.— 10 P. M.); Cooper Union, Seventh street and 
Fourth avenue (8 A. M.— 10 P. M.); Harlem, 2238 Tliird 
avenue (9 A. M. — 9 P. M.); Lenox, Fifth avenue and 
Seventieth street (11 A. M.— 4 P. M.); Mercantile, Astor 
Place (8 A. M.— 9 P. M;); New York Hospital, 8 West 
Sixteenth street (10 A. M.— => P. M.); New York Society, 
67 University Place (8 A. M.— 6 P. M.). 

NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS. 

The i)rincip;d daily news[)apers are : Morning — 
Dai/y Continent, Democratic, 239 Broadway ; Herald, 
Independent, Broadway and Ann street. Fifth avenue 
and Twenty-third street; 31orning Journal, Indepen- 
dent, 102 Nassau street ; Press, Republican, Park Row 
(Potter Buikling); Sun, Independent, Printing House 
Square; Times, Independent, Printing House Spiare; 
Tribune, Republican, Printing House Square; World, 
Democratic, Pulitzer Building (adjoining East River 
Bridge). German — Sfa(Us Zeitung, Democratic, Tryon 
Row. French — Courier des Etats Unis, Democratic, 
19 Barclay street. Commercial — Commercial Bulletin 
(except Sunday), 32 Broailway; Journal of Commerce 
(except Suiulay), 76 Beaver street. Evening (except 
Sunday) — Commercial Advertiser, Independent, Fulton 
and Nassau streets; Mail and Express, Republican, 23 



44 

Park Row; Evening Post, Independent, Broadway and 
Fulton street; Evening Telegram, lnde[)eiident, Broad- 
way and Ann street; Evening Sun, Independent, Print- 
ing House S(|uare; Evening World, Democratic, Pulitzer 
Building. Weekly — Frank Leslie's Illustrated Neivs- 
paper, 110 Fifth avenue (also German); Harper's Bazar 
(the leading weekly for women); Harpers Weekly (the 
leading weekly of the United States), Franklin Square; 
Illusf rated American, Bil)]e House; Nation (the leading 
political weekly of the United States), 210 Broadway. 
Gome— Life, 28 West Twenty-third street; Puck, 39 East 
Houston street ; Judge, 110 Fifth avenue. Monthly 
(illustrated) — Century, 83 East Seventeenth street; Cos- 
mopolitan, Twenty-sixth street and Fifth avenue ; Har- 
per^ s New 31ontJily Magazine, Franklin Square; aScWS- 
ner's Magazine, 743 Broadway. 

THEATRES. 

The most desirable seats in New York theatres are, 
except private boxes, in the parquet (also orchestra or 
dress circle). Tiiese cost $1.50 each, though at the 
"popular" theatres prices range much lower. Opera 
glasses may be hired in the lobby. Programmes free. 
The leading theatres, stock companies marked *, are : 

Academy of Music, East Fourteenth street, corner of 
Irving place; Amberg.'s Tiieatre, Fifteenth street and 
Irving place; Bijou Theatre, Broadway and Thirtieth 
street; Broadway Theatre, Forty-first street and Broad- 
way; Casino. Broadway and Thirty-ninth street (light 
opera); *Daly's Theatre, Broadway and Tiiirtieth street; 
Fifth Avenue Theatre, Twenty-eighth street and Broad- 
way; Fourteenth Street Theatre, Fourteenth street and 
Sixth avenue; Garden Theatre, Madison avenue and 
Twenty-seventh street; Grand Opera House, Eighth 
avenue and Twenty-third street; Hammerstein's Colum- 
bus Theatre, One Hundred and Twenty-fifth street and 
Lexington aveiuie; Hammerstein's Harlem Opera House, 
One Hundred and Twenty-fiftii street and Seventh ave- 
nue: *Ilarrigan's Theatre, Thirty-fifth street, east of 
Sixth avenue ; Herrmann's Tiieatre, Broadway and 
Twenty-ninth street; *Ijyceum Theatre, Fourth avenue 
and Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth streets; Madison 



4:H 

Square G irden, Twenty-sixth and Twenty-seventh 
streets, and Fourth and Madison avenues; * Madison 
S(i[uare Theatre, Twenty-fourth s-treet, near Fifth Ave- 
nue Motel; Metropolitan Opera House, Broadway and 
Thirty-ninth street; New Park Theatre, Thirty-fifth 
street and Broadway; Niblo's Garden Theatre, 522 
Broadway; Palmer's Theatre, Broadway and Thirtieth 
street; Proctor's Theatre, Twenty-third street, between 
Sixth ami Seventh avenues; Standard Theatre, Sixth 
avenue, Broadway and Thirty-third street; Star Theatre, 
Broadway and Thirteenth street; Tony Pastor's Theatre 
(Variety), Tammany Hall, Fourteenth street, near Third 
avenue ; Union Square Theatre, Union square and 
Broadway. 

COxNCERTS. 

The principal concerts to which the public is admitted 
are given at the Metropolitan Opera House, by the Phil- 
harmonic, Sympliony and Oratorio (choi-al) societies. 
Parquet, $1.50. 

CONCERT-VARIETY PERFORMANCES. 

Koster & Bials, Twenty-third street, between Sixth 
and Seventh avenues. 

WAXWORKS. 

Eden Musee, Twenty-third street, between Fifth and 
Sixth avenues. 

MUSEUMS. 

American Museum Natural History, Manhattan 
square. 

Metropolitan Museum of Art, Central Park, near 
Eighty-first street and Fifth avenue entrance. 

New York Historical Society, 170 Second avenue. 

PICTURE EXHIBITIONS. 

City Hall, City Hall Park. 

Lenox Library, Fiftii avenue and Seventieth street. 



46 

Metropolitan Museum of Art, Central Park, near 
Eighty-first street and Fifth avenue entrance. 

See also Art Stores, Academy of Design and Art 
Students'' League. 

TURKISH AND RUSSIAN BATHS. 

Produce Exchange, 8 Broadway; Hoffnian House, 7 
West Twenty-fourth street; Windsor Hotel, 7 East 
Forty-sixth street; 18 Lafayette Place. 

CYCLORAMA. 

Battle of Geftysburgh, Nineteenth street and Fourth 
avenue. 

DIVINE SERVICE. 

Trow's Directory contains a complete list of churciies 
of all denominations with the pastors' names. The best 
known churches in New York are: 

Baptist. — Adoniram Judson Memorial, Thompson 
street and South Fifth avenue, Edward Judson; Calvary, 
Fifty-seventh street, between Sixth and Seventh aA'e- 
nues, R. S. McArthur; Fifth Avenue, 6 West Forty- 
sixth street, W. H. P. Faunce. 

Congi-egational. — Broadway Tabernncle, Broadway 
and Thirty-fourth street, Wm. IM. Tayloi-. 

llethodist EpiscopaJ. — Hedding, 337 Ea-t Seventh 
street, A. C. Morehouse; John Street, 44 John street; 
Madison Avenue, Sixtieth street and Madison avenue, 
Ensign McChesney. 

Presljyterian. — Brick, 410 Fiflh avonue, Henry J. 
Van Dyke; Church of the Covenant, 28 Park avenue, 
J. H. McElvaine; Fifth Avenue, 708 Fifth avenue. 
John Hall; Fourth Avenue, 280 Fourth avenue, Howard 
Crosby; University Place, George Alexander; West, 
81 West Forty-second street, John R. Pax ton. There 
are about 65 Presbyterian churches in the city. 

Protestant Episcopal. — Trinity, the most noted church 
in New Y^ork City, Broadway and Rector streets, Mor- 
gan Dix; St. Paul's (Trinity Parish), Broadway and 
Vesey streets, James Mulcahey; St. Augustine's ('hapel 
(Trinity Parish), 107 East Houston street, A. C. Kimber. 



47 

Other well-known congregations among the 90 odd of 
this denomination are: All Souls, Sixty-sixth street and 
Madison avenue, R. lieber Newton; Grace, Broadway, 
near Tenth street, W. K. Huntington; Heavenly Rest, 
551 Fifth avenue, D. Parker Morgan; St. Ann's, 7 West 
Eighteenth street, Thomas Gallaudet; St. Bartholo- 
mew's, 348 Madison avenue, David H. Greer; St. 
George's, 7 Rutherford place, Wm. S. Rainsford; St. 
Ignatius (ritualistic), 56 West Fortieth street, A. Ritchie; 
St. Mark's, Stuvvesant street and Second avenue, J. H. 
Rylance; St. Mary, the Virgin (ritualistic), 228 West 
Forty-fifth street, T. McK. Brown ; St. Thomas's, Fifth 
avenue and Fifty-third street, John W. Brown; Trans- 
figuration, 5 East Twenty-ninth street, George H. 
Houghton; Bishop, Henry C. Potter, Diocesan House, 
29 Lafayette place. A Protestant Episcopal Cathedral 
is to be built on the site of the old Leake & Watts 
Orphan Asylum building, on high ground, just north- 
west of Central Park. There is also a Protestant Epis- 
copal City Mission, 68 Bleecker street, an interesting 
ministration of which is the City Prison Mission, Brock- 
hoist Morgan, missionary. 

Reformed Diiich. — Collegiate Middle Church, 14 La- 
fayette place, Talbot W. Chambers ; Fifth Avenue, 
Forty-eighth street and Fifth avenue, Edward B. Coe; 
Madison Avenue, Fifty-seventh street and Madison ave- 
nue, A. E. Kittredge; South Twenty-first street and 
Fifth Avenue, Roderick Terry. 

Roman Catholic. — St. Patrick's Cathedral, the finest 
church structure in America, Fiftieth and Fifty-first 
streets, and Fifth avenue, Archbishop Corrigan : St. 
Francis Xavier, David A. JMerrick; St. Paul, the Apos- 
tle, Fifty-ninth street and Ninth avenne, John McQuirk. 
There are 75 churches of this denomination. 

Unitarian. — All Souls (formerly Dr. Bellows') 245 
Fourth avenue, T. C. Williams; Messiah, 61 East Thirty- 
fourth street, Robej't Collyer. 

Uyiiversalist. — Divine Paternity (formerly Dr. Cha- 
pin's), 538 Fifth avenue, C. H. Eaton. 

Synagogues. — Temple Emanu-El, 521 Fifth avenue, 
Gustav Gottheil. Beth-El, 817 Lexington avenue. Dr. 
Kohler; Ahavash Chesed, 652 Lexington avenue, Dr. 
Kohut. 



4B 



FOREIGN CONSULS. 

Argcniiiie l^cpublic — (\ Cair.uizii, 60 W.-iU street. 
Austria-Hmigaiy — 'J\ A. Havenieyer, 88 J3 road way. 
Belgium — Chas. Mali, 829 Broadway. 
Bolivia — Melchor Obarrio, 178 Broadway. 
Brazil — A. T. de Macedo, 23 State street. 
Chili— F. A. Beelen, 15 Cortlaiidt street. 
China— Shen Woon, 26 West Ninth street. 
Colombia— Cliniaco Calderon, 16 Beaver street. 
Costa Rica — J. JNI. Munoz, 59 Liberty street. 
Denmark- Henri M. Bra^m, 69 Wall street, 
Dominican Republic — E. Henriquez, 81 Broadway. 
Ecuador — Domingo L. Ruiz, 51 Liberty street. 
France — Vicomte Paul d'Abzac, 4 Bowling Green. 
German Empire — August Feigel, 2 Bowling Green. 
Great Britain — Wm. Lane Booker. 24 State street. 
Greece — D. N. Botassi, 115 Pearl street. 
Guatemala — Jacob Baiz, 102 Front street. 
Hay ti— John Haustedt, 101 Pearl street. 
Hawaiian Islands— E. H. Allen, 51 Leonard street. 
Honduras- Jacob Baiz, 102 Front street. 
Italy— G. Paolo Riva, 22 State street. 
Japan — S. Fujii, 7 Warren street. 
Korea— Everett Frazer, 124 Water street. 
Liberia— Joseph W. Yates, 19 William street. 
Mexico — Juan N. Navarro, 35 Broadway. 
Monaco — James Dupas, 4 Bowling Green, 
Netherlands— J. R. Planten, 19 William street, 
Nicaragua — Alexander I, Cotheal, 140 Pearl street. 
Norway — Christopher Ravn, 41 Broad street. 
Peru — Juan Quintana, 19 Whitehall street. 
Portugal — Gustav Amsinek, 148 Pearl street. 
Russia — A. Greger, 22 State street. 
Siam — Isaac T. Smith, 58 West Thirty-sixth street, 
Spain — M. Suares Guanes, 30 Broadway. 
Sweden — Chistopher Ravn, 41 Broad street. 
Switzerland — J. Bertschmann, 69 Beaver street 
St. Domingo — E. Ilenriqucz, 31 Broadway. 
Turkey — Baltazzi Effendi, 132 Broadway.' 
Uruguay — Estrazulas, 120 Front street, 
Venezuela — Dr. Rafael Villavicencio, 18 Broadway. 



49 



BANKERS. 

Bankers. —August Belmont & Co., 120 Broad wav; 
Browi! Bros. & Co., 59 Wall street; Cheque Bank, '2 
Wall street; Drexel, Morgan & Co., 23 Wall street; A. 
Tselin & Co., 36 Wall street; Eugene Kelly & Co., 45 
Exchange place; Kessler & Co., 54 Wall street; Kidder, 
Peabody & Co., 15 Wall street; Knauth, Nachod & 
Kuhne, 5 S. William street; Kountze Bros., 120 Broad- 
way; Morton, Bliss & Co., 28 Nassau street; Post. 
Martin & Co., 45 Wall street; Roosevelt & Son, 33 Wall 
street; J. & W. Selignum & Co., 21 Broad street; Wins- 
low, Lanier & Co,, 17 Nassau street and 120 Broadway. 

BANKS. 

Following are the principal banks of the city. Nation- 
al: Bank of Commerce, 27 Nassau street; Bank of New 
York, 48 Wall street; Chemical, 270 Broadway; City, 
52 Wall street; First, 2 Wall street; Importers and 
Traders, 247 Broadway; Mechanics, 33 Wall street; 
Park, 214 and 216 Broadway. State: Bank of Amer- 
ica, 46 Wall street; Bank of the Metropolis, 29 Union 
squai'e ; Bank of the State of New York, 33 William 
street; Fifth Avenue, 531 Fifth avenue; German-Amer- 
ican, 50 Wall street; Manhattan Company, 40 Wall 
street; Pacific, 470 Broadway. Savings BaiiJcs : Bank 
for Savings, 64 Bleecker street; Dry Dock, 343 Bowery; 
Emigrant and Industrial, 51 Chambers street; German, 
157 Fourth avenue; Manhattan Savings Institution, 
644 Broadway; Seamen's, 74 Wall street; Union Dime, 
54 West Thirty-second street. 

POSTAL INFORMATION. 

General Post Office, Broadway and Park How. 
There are eighteen branch P. 0. Stations and twenty- 
one sub-stations, the latter in drug stores. Hotel guests 
can mail their letters and parcels at their hotel. Tliere 
are no deliveries on Sunday. Closing of foreign mails is 
advertised in the newspapers. The following is con- 
densed from the Neiv York Post Office Guide, copies of 
which can be obtained at the General Post Office. Pre- 
payment of postage is necessary. The rates for first, 



50 

second and tliird class inattcr Mpi>ly also to mail matter 
for Canada and Mexico. 

RATES OF POSTAGE. 

First class: Letters weighing one ounce or less, 2 
cents; 2 cents 'additional for every extra ounce; postal 
cards, 1 cent. Second class : Newspapers or periodicals 
when sent by publisher or news agents, 1 cent a pound, 
or fraction thereof; otherwise, 1 cent for every 4 ounces, 
or fraction thereof. Third class : Printed matter un- 
sealed, including books, circulars, handbills, engravings, 
music, magazines, pamphlets, newspapers, proof-sheets 
and manuscripts accompanying same, 1 cent each 2 
ounces, or fraction thereof ; limit of weight, 4 lbs., ex- 
cept for a single book, which may be more. Fourth 
class : AH mailable matter not included in preceding 
classes, prepared for mailing so as to be easily with- 
drawn and examined, 1 cent per ounce, or fraction 
thereof; but seeds, plants, cuttings, bulbs, roots and 
scions, are 1 cent for each 2 ounces. Foreign Postage : 
5 cents for a single letter to all the countries belonging 
to the Postal Union; postal cards, 2 cents. To countries 
not belonging to the union the rates vary. UnmailaUe : 
Poisons, fresh fruits and vegetables, live animals, ex- 
plosives, and other dangerous articles or substances. 

MONEY-ORDERS. 

Domestic. — Obtained at the General Post Office, and 
at any of the branch or sub-stations, between the liours 
of 10 A. M. and 6 P. M. Applicant must fill up a blank 
form giving the amount he desires to send, the place at 
which it is to be ])aid, the name of the payee, and his 
own name. Fees: On orders not exceeding f5, 5 cents; 
over $5 and not exceeding $10, Scents; over $10 and 
not exceeding $15, 10 cents; over $15 and not exceeding 
$30, 15 cents; over $30 and not exceeding $40, 20 cents; 
over $40 and not exceeding $50, 25 cents; over $50 and 
not exceeding $60, 30 cents; over $60 and not exceeding 
$70, 35 cents; over $70 and not exceeding $80, 40 cents; 
over $80 and not exceeding $100, 45 cents. Interna- 
tional. — International money-ordei'S payable in the fol- 
lowing countries: Great Britain and Ireland, Canada, 
Germany, France, It.dy, Belgium, Switzerland, Sweden, 
Norway, Denmark, Portugal, Netherlands, Luxemburg, 



51 

Austi-o-IIungary, New Soutli Wales, Queensland, Vic- 
toria, New Zealand, South Australia, West Australia, 
Tasmania, British India, Japan, Hawaii, Jamaica, Cape 
Colony, Eg'vpt, Constantinople, Hong Kong, Bermuda, 
Gibraltar, Iceland, Natal, Windward Islands, Leeward 
Islands, Ceylon, Falkland Islands, Straits Settlements 
(Singapore, Penang and Malacca), Gambia, ^lauritius, 
St. Helena, Trinidad, Malta, Tangier, Beyrout, Salonica, 
Azores and Madeira Islands. Fees: On orders not ex- 
ceeding .flO, 10 cents; over $10 and not exceeding $20, 
20 cents; over $20 and not exceeding $30, 30 cents; over 
$30 and not exceeding $40, 40 cents; over $40 and not 
exceeding $50, 50 cents; over $50 and not exceeding 
$60, 60 cents; over $60 and not exceeding $70, 70 cents; 
over $70 and not exceeding $80, 80 cents; over $80 an(l 
not exceeding $90, 90 cents; over $90 and not exceeding 
$100, $1. Obtainable at the General Post Office and all 
branch offices, except M, S and T. 

POSTAL NOTES. 

Postal Notes, good for three months, are issued for 
any sum frotn one cent to four dollars and ninety-nine 
cents ($4.99) inclusive, but not for anyfractional part of 
a cent, at a uniform fee of thi'ee cents. 

They can be purchased at the General Post Office or 
at any branch station or sub-station, and are payable at 
any money-order office in the United States, including 
branch stations and sub-stations in New York. They 
are })ayable to bearer, and no identification is required. 

PARCELS POST. 

Under conditions, which may be ascertained at the 
General Post Office, branch or sub-stations, unsealed 
parcels of merchandise not over 11 pounds may be sent 
by parcels post to Jamaica, Barbadoes, Bahamas, 
British Honduras, Mexico, Sfindwich Islands, Lee- 
ward Islands, Colombia, Costa Kica, and Salvadoi-. 

REGISTRATION. 

Domestic and foreign letters and pai-cels may be 
registered at a fee of ten cents in postage stamps. 

POSTE RESTANTE. 

Advertised Domestic 3Iail JIatter. — All domestic 
(except local) letters, book })ackets, and packages of 



52 

merchandioe (also those from Great Britain, Ireland or 
British Colonies) which liave renmined undelivered for 
two weeks and which do not boar the names and ad- 
dresses of the senders (except those addressed to street 
and number, which are advertised as soon as they are 
returned by cat rier as being undeliverable) are advertised 
at New York twice a week. The advertised lists of such 
mutter are also displayed in the lobbies of the General 
Post Office. Undelivered local letters are not advertised, 
but remain at the Poste Restante for thirty days await- 
ing call, and if then unclaimed are sent to the Dead 
Letter Office, Washington. 

Advertised Foreign Mail Matter. — All letters, book 
packets, and packages, of apparent value, arriving 
from foreign countries and found to be undeliverable 
through the ordinary methods, are treated as follows : 
1. If addressed ''Poste Restante,''' or ''to he called for,'' 
they are retained, awaiting call, for two months, before 
being advertised. 2. If addressed to street and number, 
but found undeliverable, they are advertised as soon as 
returned by carriers. 3. If addressed" Post Office " only, 
they are retained fifteen days and then are advertised. 
All are retained awaiting call for four weeks after being 
advertised, and all then unclaimed are sent to the Dead 
Letter Ollice. Mail matter of foreign origin (except that 
from Great Britain, Ireland and British Colonies) re- 
maining uncalled for at the New York Office is advertised 
in newspapers printed in the languages of the countries 
in which such matter originates. 

Fee for Advertising. — A charge of one cent is made on 
the delivery of each article of advertised mail matter, to 
cover the cost of advertising. 

SPECIAL DELIVERY. 

Letters and packages are delivered by special ines- 
senger if, in addition to the regular postage, a 10 cent 
special delivery stamp is affixed. 

TELEPHONE. 

New York and its suburbs are served by the ^retro|)ol- 
itan Telephone and Telegraph Company, which has 
numerous offices. There is, also, a long-distance tele- 
phone service. 



53 

MESSENGER SERTICE. 

Messenger service is maintained by tlie American Dis- 
trict Telegrapli Company and the Mutual District Mes- 
senger Company. These companies liave numerous 
offices, and messengers can be summoned from most of 
the hotels. 

EXPRESS SERVICE. 

Domestic and Railway Expresses can be ordered at 
most of the hotels, the companies calling for the baggage 
or parcels. Foreign express matter should be delivered 
at the offices of the following: 

American Express Co., 65 Broadway; American 
E uropea7i Uxpjxss {Bsihlwin Brothers & Co.), office, 53 
Broadway; Bermuda and New York Express, 15 Mur- 
ray street ; Conlanseau's Rapid Foreign Express Co., 71 
Broadway and 653 Sixth avenue; Cutajar & Co.''s 
Express, 55 and 57 Beaver street; Davies, Turner & Co., 
American, Foreign and European Express Co., 40 Broad- 
way; E. Losee's European Express, 111 Broadway, 
basement; Foreign Express Co. (Limited), 15 Murray 
street; Hampton Jr. & Co. E.cpress, 40 Exchange place; 
Hensel, Bruckman & Lorbacher, 25 William street; 
Langes European Express, 49 Exchange place; 3Iorris 
Europt'an & American Express Co.y 18 Broadway ; R. F. 
Bowing & Co.'s Foreign, Express, 20 Exchange place 
and 65 Beaver street; Piti S Scott's Foreign Express, 
35 and 37 Broadway; ScotVs Foreign Delivery, 157 
Broadway; Steglich & Baese (European Parcel), 76 
William street; The Internationcd Express, 47 Broad- 
way; TJic Transatlantic Express {^. Terkuile), 31 and 33 
Broadway; United Foreign Express Co., 71 Bi'oadway 
and 659 Sixth avenue; United States Express Co., 49 
Broadway; Universal Express, J. ]\[etzger & Co., 30 
Broadway; Wells, Fargo S Co.' s European Express, 63 
Broadway. 

The American Express Co., United States Express Co. 
and Wells, Fargo & Co., have branche .; in various parts 
of the city. 

TELEGRAPH AM) CABLE RATES. 

Telegraph and cable i-ates are apt to vary, but will 
generally be found at or near the rates given below, 



54 

which are those now in force. These give a good gen- 
eral i(h^a of the cost of telegraphing in New York, and 
from New York to other points in the United States and 
CaiVfida, and other foreign countries. Except in cable 
messages the " i)lace from," date, address jiiid signature 
are not charged for. In cable messages eveiy word 
written by the sender is charged for. 

The Western Union, which is the largest telegraph 
company in the United States, has its main office at 
Broadway and Dey street. The principal branch offices, 
Fifth avenue and Twenty-third street and 16 Broad 
street, are connected by pneumatic tubes with the main 
office. There are branch offices in the principal hotels, 
exchanges, the post-office and railway stations, and at 
many other points in the city. Day and night offices: 
Broadway and Dey street; 599 Broadway (near Houston 
street); 854 I^roadway (near Fourteenth street): Fifth 
avenue and Twenty-third street; Broadway and Twenty- 
ninth street; Sixth avenue and Forty-seventh street; 
134 East One Hundred and Twenty-fifth street. 

Telegraph Rates. — Rates for messages of ten words or 
under (numbei's must be spelled out): Local, 20 cents; 
to Baltimore, Md., 25 cents; Boston, Mass., 25 cents; 
Chicago, 111., 40 cents; Cincinnati, O., 40 cents; Gal- 
veston, Texas, 75 cents; Montreal and Quebec, 40 cents; 
New Orleans, La., 60 cents; Omaha, Neb., 50 cents; 
Philadelphia, 20 cents; Pittsburg, Pa., 25 cents; St. 
Louis, Mo., 40 cents;. Salt Lake City, Utah, 75 cents; 
San Francisco, Cal., $1; Washington, D. ('., 25 cents. 
Words in excess of ten are charged at considerably lower 
rates, as ai'e also night messages. 

Cable Rates.- — Cable messages can be sent from \\\v 
main offices and branches of the Western Union and 
other cable companies at the following rates per word : 

Great Britain, Ireland, France, Germany, 25 cents; 
Bernuulas, 81 cents; Belgium, 81 cents; Denmark, 35 
cents; Holland, 33 cents: Sweden, 39 cents; Norway, 
35 cents; Switzerland, 31 cents; Hungary, 36 cents; 
Italy, 34 cents; Russia, 43 cents; Egypt — Alexandria, 
58 cents; Cape Colony, $2.43: Japan, $2.11; Australia, 
$2.54 to $2.08; India, $1.31; South AmericH: Ecuador, 
$1.84; Peru, $1.82 to $2.66; Chili, $2.25: Argentine 
Republic, $1.82 to $2.13; Uruguay, $2: Brazil, $1.69 



55 

to $2.13; Colon and Panama, 97 cents; Havana, 40; 
St. Thomas, |1.96. 

STORES. 

Antiquities AND Bric-a-brac. — Sypher& Co., 246 Fifth 
avenue; A. A. Vantine & Co. (Oriental). 879 Broadway. 

Booksellers. — Baker-Taylor Co., 74U Broadway; J. 
W. Bouton, 706 Broadway and 8 West Twenty-eighth 
street; Brentano's, 5 Union Square (also large dealers in 
periodicals) ; F. W. Christern, 254 Fifth avenue (French); 
C. T. Dillingham, 720 Broadway; Dodd, Mead & Co., 
Broadway and Clinton place (also large dealers in rare 
books); E. P. Dutton & Co., 31 West Twenty-third 
street; David G. Francis, 12 East Fifteenth street; W. 
M. Goldthwaite, 107 Nassau street (maps and guides); 
Hunt «& Eaton, 150 Fifth avenue; Ivison, Blakeman & 
Co., 806 Broadway; W. R. Jenkins, 851 Sixth avenue; 
Leggat Bros., 81 Chambers street; S. B. Luyster, 98 
Nassau street; Henry Miller, 65 Nassau street; G. P. 
Putnam's Sons, 27 West Twentv-third street; Rand, 
McNally& Co., 323 Broadway; A.' D. F. Randolph, 38 
West Twenty-third street; Chas. Scribner's Sons, 745 
Broadway; GustavE. Stechert, 828 Broadway (German); 
E. Steige'r & Co., 25 Park place (German); P. A. Stokes 
& Co,. 182 Fifth avenue; B. Westermann & Co., 812 
liroadway (German); Worthington Co., 747 Broadway; 
Harper & Bros., Franklin square and D. Appleton & 
Co., Bond street, near Broadway, deal only in their 
own publications. 

Boots and Shoes. — W. Arnold, 44 West Twenty-third 
street; A. J. Cammeyer, 167 Sixth avenue; G. Cantrell, 
25 West Twenty-third street; W. McClenahan, 58 East 
Twenty-third street; J. & J. Slater, 1185 Broadway. 

Canes. — See Jleris Furnishing Goods. 

Carpets and Rugs. — W. & J. Sloane, 884 Broadway; 
A. A. Vantine & Co. (Oriental), 879 Broadway. 

Children's Outfits. — Best & Co., West Twenty-third 
street. 

China AND Glass. — Bawo&Dotter, 30 Barclay; Davis 
CoUamore, 921 Broadway and 151 Fifth avenue; Gilinan 
Collamore, 284 Fifth avenue; Frank Haviland, 14 Bar- 
clay; Wilhelm & Graef, 1141 Broadway; A. A. Vantine 
& Co. (Oriental), 879 Broadway. 



56 

Cigars and Tobacco. — Cigars can be purchased at 
liotels, cafes and restaurants, and at tlie large groceries. 
Tobacco may be purchased at the large groceries. Cigar 
and tobacco stores are numerous. 

Art Stokes. — S. P. Avery, Jr., 368 Fifth avenue; 
Boussod, Valadon & Co. ; Knoedler & Co. (Goupil's), 
170 Fifth avenue; Keichard & Co., 226 Fifth avenue; 
William Schauss, 204 Fifth avenue. Engravings and 
Etchings.— ¥. Keppel & Co., 20 East Sixteenth street; 
C. Klackner, 5 East Seventeenth street; H. Wunderlich 
& Co., 868 Broadway. 

Confectioners. — Huyler, 150 and 863 Broadway and 
21 West Forty-second' street; Maillard, 120, 178 and 
1097 Broadway. 

Dressmakers. — B. Altnian & Co.. 301 Sixth avenue; 
Arnold, Constable k Co.. Broi^Iway and Isineteenth 
street; Donovan, 282 Madison avenue; Everall Bros., 
236 Fifth avenue (tailor-made) ; Ghorniley, 45 East 
Xineteenth street; Krakauer, 391 Fifth avenue; Red- 
fern. 210 Fifth avenue; Stern Bros., 32 W. Twenty- 
third street. 

Dry Goods.— B. Altman & Co., 301 Sixth avenue; 
Aitken, Son & Co., 873 Broadway; Arnold, Constable & 
Co., Broadway and Nineteenth streets: Bloomingdale 
Bros., 996 Third avenue ; John Daniell & Sons. 761 Broad- 
way; E. J. Denning & Co., successor to A. T. Stewart & 
Co., Broadway and Tenth street (have also general house 
furnishings); Ehrich Bros., 365 Sixth avenue; J. A. 
Hearn & Son, 26 to 30 West Fourteenth street; H. C. F. 
Koch & Co., 319 Sixth avenue; Leboutillier Bros., 845 
Broadway and 48 East Fourteenth street; Leboutillier 
Bros., 50 West Twenty-third street; J. Lichtenstein & 
Sons, 281 Grand street; Lord «& Taylor, 895 Broadway 
and 257 Grand street; James McCreery «& Co., 801 
Broadway; J. McCutcheon & Co. (linens), 64 West 
Twenty-third street; R. H. Macy & Co., Fourteenth 
street and Sixth avenue (have also general house furnish- 
ings); E. A. Morrison, Broadway near P]ighteenth street; 
H. O'Neill & Co., 321 Sixth avenue; PMward Ridley & 
Sons, 301 Grand street; Simpson, Crawford & Simpson, 
309 Sixth avenue; Stern Bros., 32 West Twenty-third 
street; A, A, Vantine & Co. (Oriental), 879 Broadway, 

Florists. — Bebus, 1.1 '3 Broadway; Hanft Brothers, 



224 Fifth avenue; Hodgson, 545 Fifth avenue; Khinder 
Co., 1144 Broadway; MeConnell, 546 Fifth avenue; 
Stuinpp, G15 Madison avenue. 

Furriers. — C. G. Gunther's Sons, 184 Fifth avenue; 
Jaeckel, 11 East Nineteenth street; Shayne, 103 Prince 
and 124 West Forty-second streets. 

Furniture Dealers. — Cottier & Co., 144 Fifth avenue; 
Herter Brothers, 154 J^'iftli avenue; Herts Brothers, 894 
Broadway ; -Marcotte «& Co., 298 Fifth avenue; Pottier, 
Stynius & Co., 375 Lexington avenue; Roux & Co., 133 
Fifth avenue. 

Glovers. — Harris Brothers, 865 Broadway. See also 
Dry Goods. 

Haberdashers. — See lien's Furnishing Goods. 

Harness. — Deinarest & Co., 51 Warren street; Wood 
Gibson, 222 Fifth avenue; J. Newton Van Ness & Co., 
50 Warren and 120 Chambers streets. 

Hats.— Dunlap & Co., 181 Broadway an<l 180 Fifth 
avenue; Knox, 212 Broadway and 194 Fifth avenue; 
Younians, 180, 719 and 1107 Broadway. 

Jewelers. — Black. Star & Frost, 251 Fifth avenue; 
Benedict Brothers, 171 Broadway; Jaques& Marcus, 857 
Broadway (Union square) ; Theodore B. Starr, 206 Fifth 
avenue; Schumann & Sons. 860 Broadway; Tiffany & 
Co., Fifteenth street and Union square. 

Men's Furnishing Goods. — Samuel Budd, 1101 
Broadway; John Forsythe, 201 Broadway; Ingersoll & 
Glenney,' 1129 Broadway; Kaskel & Kaskel, 20 West 
Twenty-third street; Michaelis & Rohman, 14 West 
Twenty-third street; F. Miller & Sons, 1151 Broadway; 
Ward, 395 Broadway. See also Dry Goods. 

Milliners. — Halsey, 253 Fifth avenue; Jacquin&Co., 
68 West Twenty-third street ; Snedden, 183 Fifth ave- 
nue; Tierce, 381 Fifth avenue. See also Dry Goods. 

Music Stores. — G. Schirmer, 35 Union square; E. 
Schuberth & Co., 23 Union square; Novello, Ewer & 
Co., 21 East Seventeenth street; C. H. Ditson & Co., 867 
Broadway: W. A. Pond & Co., 25 Union sc^uare. 

Newspapers and Periodicals. — There are news- 
stands in the principal hotels and at railroad and L R.R. 
stations. Brentano's, 5 Union square, deals largely in 
domestic and foreign newspapers and periodicals. 

Opticians. — Levv, Drevfus" & Co., 11 Maiden Lane; 



58 

Maver, 2 Astor House; Waidsteiii, 41 Union sqnare; 
Pike, 13 East Tvventy-tliird street; Cross & Co., 18 West 
Twenty-third street. 

Photographers. — Falk. 947 Broadway; Fredericks, 
770 Broadw^ay; nar£:rave and Gubelman, 88 West 
Twenty-third street: Kurtz, 6 East Twenty-third street; 
Sarony, 37 Union square. 

Photographic Apparatus. — E. & H. T. Antliony 
& ('o., 591 Broadway; Loeber Brothers, 111 Nassau 
street; Xewcome & Owen, 69 West Thirty-sixth street: 
Scoville & Adaras Co., 423 Broome. 

Silversmiths.— Black, Star & Frost, 251 Fifth 
avenue; Gorhani Mannfacturing Co.. 889 Broadway: 
TitlEany & Co., 15 Union square; Theodore B. Starr, 
206 Fifth avenue; Whiting Manufacturing Co., 31 
Union square. 

Sporting Goods. — Haas Brothers, 60 West Twenty- 
sixth street: Horsnian, 80 "^^illiam street; Peck & Sny- 
der, 126 Nassau; Spalding Brothers, 241 Broadway; 
Squires, 178 Broadway. 

Stationers. — Brentano's, 5 Union square; Denipsey 
& Carroll, 36 East Fourteenth street; Tiffany & Co.", 
Fifteenth street and Union square. 

Tailors.— J. W. Bell & Son, 172 Fifth avenue; 
Cooper & Jarvis. 54 Broadway: Everall Brotiiers, 236 
Fifth avenue: John Patterson & Co., 25 We<t Twenty- 
sixth street; Brooks Brothers. 938 Broadway : Redfern, 
210 Fifth avenue. 

Toys.— Scharles Brothers, 24 West Twenty-tliird 
street; Schwarz, 42 East Fourteenth street. 

Trunks and Traveling Bags. — Cattnach, 736 Broad- 
way; Crouch & Fitzgerald, 556 Broadway, 123 Sixth 
avenue; Bazar du Voyage, 1 Wall and 1 Cortlandt streets; 
Roemer, 82 Fifth avenue; Prichard, 74 West Twenty- 
thii-d street. 

Umbrellas. — See Dry Goods and Men's Furnishing 
Goods. 

Watchmakers. — See Jeivelers. 

LAW COURTS. 

united states courts. 
United States Circuit Court. — Federal I)uilding, 
Broadway & Park row. Jurisdiction in appeals from 



59 

United States District Court, and original jurisdictions 
in civil law and equity suits between citizens of different 
States; also in suits arising under the revenue, copyright 
and patent laws. 

United States District Court. — Federal Building, 
Broadway and Park row. Jurisdiction in admiralty 
and maritime cases; in cases where an alien sues on 
tort in violation of a treaty or the laws of nations; suits 
instituted by the United States, suits by and against 
foreign consuls. 

Tiie Supreme Court of the United States sits in Wash- 
ington. 

STATE COURTS. 

Supreme Court. — County Court House, City Hall 
Park. The general law and equity court of the State of 
New York. The appellate branch known as the General 
Term passes on appeals from the trial judges of this 
court, the final appeal being from the General Term to 
the Court of Appeals which sits at Albany. 

Oyer and Terminer. — County Court House, City Hall. 
The criminal branch of the Supreme Court. 

CITY COURTS. 

Court of Common Pleas. — County Court House. 
Concurrent jurisdiction with the Supreme Court within 
the county limits (actions involving real estate ivithin 
the city, etc.). 

Superior Court of the City of Xew York. — County 
C'<urt House. Jurisdiction similar to that of the Court 
of Common Plea-;. Both these courts hold General 
Terms, the final appeal being to the Court of Appeals. 

City Court. — City Hall. Jurisdiction in smaller civil 
cases and a limited maritime jurisdiction. Also a Gen- 
eral Term, final appeal being to the Court of Common 
Pleas. 

District Courts. — Inferior civil courts; appeals being 
to the Court of Common Pleas. 

Surrogate's Court. — County Court House. Jurisdic- 
tion in matters relating to wills and administration of 
the estate of a decedent. 

Court of General Sessions of the Peace. — 32 Chambers 
street. Criminal jurisdiction concurrent with the Court 
of Oyer and Terminer within the limits of the county. 



60 

Held by the Recorder, City Ju(;,ae and Judge of tlie 
Court of General Sessions. Appeals to General Term of 
Supreme Court and finally to Court of Appeals. 

Court of Special Sessions of the Peace. — Tombs, Cen- 
tre street, between Leonard and Franklin streets. 
Jurisdiction over all misdemeanors. 

A building for the City Criminal Courts is being 
ei'ected on Centre street, one block above the Tombs. 

Police Courts.— IniQviov criminal tribunals. 

CHARITY. 

Hospitals. — The most important hospitals besides 
charity hospitals are : New York Hospital, 7 West 
Fifteenth street. Mt. Sinai Hospital, Lexington ave- 
nue and Sixty-sixth stieet, a general hospital for pa- 
tients of all creeds and classes, with a capacity of 
two hundred beds. It treated last year 2,563 cases. 
Visiting days : Saturdays and Sundnys, 2 to 4 P. M ; 
Wednesdays, 2 to 3 P. M. ; to the children's ward, Sat- 
urdays only, 2 to 4 P. M. Those able to ])!iy board are 
charged $7 per week. Presbyterian Hospital, occu- 
pying, with its dispensary, the entire block between 
Madison and Fourth avenues. Seventy and Seventy-first 
streets. Visiting days: Tuesdays and Fridays, fiom 2 to 
4 P. ]\L, known also as the Lenox Hospital, having been 
founded by the late James Lenox. German Hospital, 
Fourth avenue and Seventy-seventh street, notwithstand- 
ing its name, open free to the sick poor of every nation- 
ality, color or creed. Private patients. $15 to $35 
per week. Visiting days. Wednesdays and Thursdays 
from 2 to 4 P. ]M. Hahnemann Hospital, Park avenue 
between Sixty-seventh and Sixty-eightli streets, as the 
name signifies, a horaoeopiithic hospital, but designed for 
the better class of poor wlio can pay a small sum per 
week. Private patients $10 to $-10 per week. Roosevelt 
Hospital, Fifty-ninth street and Ninth avenue, endowed 
by the late James IT. Roosevelt, a member of one of the 
oldest and best known families in the city, is one of the 
greatest institutions of its kind in the city. Free to all 
who cannot afford to pay. It is built on the pavilion 
plan and has a capacity of one hundred and seventy 
beds. Aceordmg to its last report it ti-eated. in one year, 
2,754 cases in wards, and 3,226 in the accident-room. 



61 

Visiting (lays: Sunday?, Wednesdays and Fridays from 
1 to 3 P. M! .St. Luhis Hospital, Fifty-fourth street and 
Fiflh avenue, a hospital connected with the Protestant 
Episcopal Church, but affording medical and surgical 
aid and nursing without distinction of age or creed, in 
acute, curable and non-contagious diseases. Friends of 
patients admitted on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays 
from 10 to 12 M. Chapel service on Sundays at 3 :30 P. M. , 
which relatiyes of patients who cannot call on yisiting 
days may attend with the privilege of remaining in the 
wards after worship until 5 P. M. Capacity two hundred 
and twenty beds. Treated 2,051 patients last year. Sis- 
ters of the Poor of St. Francis, 603 to 617 Fifth sti-eet, 
running through to Sixth street, a i^oman Catholic 
institution, but non-sectarian in its reception of patients. 
Capacity, two hundred and forty beds. Treated 2,766 
])atients last year. Visiting days, Sundays and Thurs- 
days from 3 to 5 P. M. Maintains also St. Joseph's Hos- 
pital East One Hundred and Forty-third and One Hun- 
dred and Forty-fourth streets, between Brook and St. 
Anne ayenues ; capacity two hundred and fifty beds. 
BENEyoLENT SOCIETIES. — Colored Orphan Asylum, 
West One Hundred and Forty-third street and Boule- 
yard, receiyes colored orphans of both sexes between the 
ages of 2 and 10, and provides for them gratuitously ex- 
cept when they are intrusted to the institution by a 
parent or guardian, when 75 cents per week is charged. 
Full orphans are instructed in home industries, and in- 
dentured into families or trades at the age of 12. Three 
hundred and sixty-seven inmates last year. Visiting 
days: Mondays and Fridays from 1 to 4 P. M. Institu- 
tio7i for the Improved Instriiction of Deaf 3Iutes, 904 
to 922 Lexington ayenue, coi-nerof Sixty-seventh street. 
Pupils able to pay are charged $400 per annum. Imbe- 
ciles not receiyed. Here deaf mute children from 6 to 
14 years of age are taught by the most improyed methods 
to use articulate sounds. Catholic Protectory, West- 
chester, Westchester county, cares for destitute Catholic 
children as follows: Children under 14 years of age in- 
trusted for protection or reformation ; between 7 and 14, 
committed by a police magistrate as truant, idle, vicious 
or homeless; between like ages, transferred by the De- 
partment of Public Charities and Correction. Boys, 



63 

whomv in charge of t lie l>r()thersi>t' the Christian Si'htH)ls, 
ivoeive u eonunou sc-hool eilneation and aie tanuht 
trades. The girls, who are in eharge of the Sisters of 
Chanty, receive n common sc1uh)1 education and are 
taught industrial emplovments. Cared for o.o'2() last 
year. Chihlreii's Aid Socittt/, 24 St. Mark's plact', 
seeks to elevate }H>or chiUlren by gathering thi>sc who 
attend no schools into its induslrial si-hools, caring and 
l^roviiling for homeless I'hildren in its loilging-liouscs, 
and procuring homes lor them in the rural districts in 
the West. Under proper conditions the Sin-iety will as- 
sist families with children to the South and West. It 
luid charge last year of oS.^^oo children. Its most inter- 
esting lotlging-house and st'hool is tiie Newsboys' Lodging 
House (.page 142). yire Puiiifs JJotise of Indiistri/. la,") 
Worth street (page 147). Five Points Jtlission, (il Park 
street (page 145). Jlchreio Benevolent and Orphan 
Asi/tnm, New Amsterdam avenue and One Hundred 
and Thirty-sixth street. Institution for the Deaf and 
T>uml), Eleventh avenue and One Hundred and Sixty- 
third street, for the free education of the deaf and dumb 
without regard to the circumstances of the parents, ex- 
cept that they must reside in the State of New Vm-k. 
The chiklren are taught various trades by which they 
may supj>ort themselves on leaving the institution. 
Isabella Home, New Amsterdam avenue and One Hun- 
dred and Ninetieth street, foiuided by Oswald Ottendor- 
fer in memory of ins wife. A home for the care and 
nuiintenance of aged indigent persons over (50 years of 
aLre, without distiiu-tion as to age, creed, color or natiiMi- 
ality, anil a hospital and dispensary for chronic invalids 
and convalescents. Juvenile Asf/luni, One Hundred 
and Seventy-sixth street and New Amsterdam avenue, 
a refonnatory for vicious children of both sexes be- 
tween the ages of 7 and 14 years. Visiting days at 
the asylum: Ijast Thursday of each month. * St. 
John's Guild, 21 University }>lace, organizes water 
excursions for sick children in summer and manitains a 
seaside nursery at Cedar Oiove, Nt>w I>orj), Staten Is- 
laiul. She/terini/ Arms, New Amsterdam avenue ami 
One Hundred and Twenty-ninth street. Fov the care 
of homeless and destitute children from 5 to \2 years of 
age, for whom no other institution provides, such as 



I 



63 

those who are at once l)lln<l, deaf and duinh, and also 
f'ldldren wlio are deserted or ternporai-ily homeless. 
<'hildi-en ai'e trained in liouseliold and other woi'k. 
Unitid IhhrcAV Charities, 58 St. Mark's place, is a union 
of some of the most important Hebrew benevolent so- 
cieties in the city. Charity Organization Socidy, 21 
University place, directs [)ersons in search of relief to 
the institution covering their special cases, and is there- 
fore one of the most irnj)ortant adjuncts to the public 
and private charitable ministrations of the city. In the 
" Xew York Charities Directory " ($1), published by this 
Society, detailed information regarding all these institu- 
tions may be found 

COLLKOES. 

Columbia College, Forty-ninth street and Madison 
avenue; University of the City of Xew York, Washing- 
ton Square and Waverly Place; ('oUege of the City of 
New York, 17 Ijexington avenue; College of Physicians 
and Surgeons, Fifty-ninth stre(it, near Ninth avenue; 
University Medical College, foot of East Twenty-sixth 
street; Carnegie Medical College, Twenty-sixth street 
and First avenue; College of Pharmacy, 209 East 
Twenty-third street; New York College of Dentistry, 
24o East Twenty-third street; General Theoh-gical Sem- 
inary of the Protestant P^piscopal Church, Twentieth 
street, between Ninth and Tenth avenues; IJnion Theo- 
logical Seminary, 1200 Fourth avenue (near Seventieth 
street. 

CLIIJS. 

Aldine Cluh, chiefly a publishers' club, 20 Lafayette 
place. Arion Socidy, a vocal society, with a fine club- 
house at Fifty-tiinth street and Park avenue. Authors'' 
Cluh, 19 West Twenty-fourth street. Calumd Cinh, 
Twenty-sixth street and Fifth av^enue. Cantury Asso- 
ciation, composed chiefly of litterateurs, artists and 
connoisseurs of literature and art, Forty-third street, 
between Fifth and Sixth avenues. Fdlonxraft Clnh, 
journalists, auth«M-s and artists, 16 p]ast Twenty-ninth 
street. German Club, Fifty-eighth street, near Sixth 
avenue. Ilarmonie Cluh, 4o West Forty-second street, 
and Progress Cluh, Sixty-third street and Fifth averme, 



64 

■wealthy and influential Hebrew elal)s. KnicJierhocker 
Cluh, Tliirty-seeond street and Fifth avenue, the most 
exclusive club in tiie city. Lawyer.^" C/ub, V20 Broad- 
way. Lotos Club, ni)rtii-east corner Twenty-iirst street 
and Fifth avenue, numbering nniny actors^ artists and 
other j)rofessional men among its members. Manhatfan 
Club, Thirty-fourth street and Fifth avenue, the jn-in- 
ci{)al Democratic cbib in tiie city. New York Club, 
Tliirtv-fiftli street and Fifth avenue. JS^ew York Press 
Club,' 120 Nassau street. Flayers Club, of which Ed- 
win liooth, the tragedian, is president, 16 Gramert-y 
park. Union Club, north-west corner Twenty-first 
street and Fiftli avemie. the most widely known social 
club ill the city. Uniorh League Club, Thirty-ninth 
street and Fifth avenue, the most intluential Republi- 
can club in the United States. Universily Club, Twenty- 
sixth street and Madison avenue; membership restricted 
to graduates of colleges or similar institutions or to 
tliose wlio have attended such at least three years. 

ATHLETICS AND SPORT. 

Athletics. — The leading athletic club in New York 
is the New York Athletic Club, with a fine club-house 
at Fifty-fifth street and Sixth avenue, with all conve- 
niences for athletic and gymnastic exercises and social 
enjoyment. The club also owns Traver's Island, near 
New Kochelle. where it has a club-house, boat-house, 
baseball and teiniis grounds and an athletic track. The 
Manhattan Athletic Club has a handsome and well-ap- 
pointed buihling, with a, roof, summer garden and other 
attractive features, at Madison avenue ami Forty-fourtli 
street, and owns Berrian's Island in the East river, off 
Astoria. The Racquet Club, Sixth avenue and Twenty- 
sixth street, has racquet courts and conqjlele gymnastic 
and atliletic equipment. The Young ]\ien"s Christian 
Association has a gymnasium at Fourth avenue and 
Twenty-third street, and grounds and a boat-house at 
]\Iott ilaven on the Harlem river. The Staten Island 
Athletic Club, with grounds and boat-house at West 
Brighton, S. I. ; the New Jersey Athletic Club, at Bergen 
Point, N. J., and the Orange Athletic Club, at East 
Orange, N. J., are the most important suburban athletic 



6j 

clubs. Athletic games are held in the fall and spring. 
The Bf rkoley Ladies' Athletic Association has a well-ap- 
j)oiiite(l Ijuilding in Forty-fourth street between Fifth 
and Sixth avenues, next to the Berkeley Lyceum. 

Driving. — The most fashionable drive in New York 
is througii Central Park, tiie main drive entering at Fifth 
avenue and Fifty-ninth street, leading around the park 
and back again to this entrance. Another beautiful 
drive is that along Riverside avenue (see Riverside Park). 
St. Niciiohis avenue, a fine I'oad, begins at Sixth avenue 
and One Hundred and Tenth street, at the upper end of 
Central Park, and runs to Fort Washington, joining 
tiiere tiie Kingsbridge road and its continuation (Broad- 
way) to Yonkers. The Boulevard, another broa<l 
thoi'oughfare, begins at Eighth avenue and Fifty-ninth 
street, and, crossing St. Nicholas avenue, finally joins 
the Kingsbridge road. Central avenue (or Jerome 
avenue), begins at McComb's Dam (or Centi'al Bridge) 
and continues to Yonkers, crossing JMoshola Parkway, 
which will connect Rronx and Van Cortlandt Park. 
This is wiiere the owners of fast trotters speed their 
liorses. Gabe Case's, " Judge "Smith's and Florence's 
are well-known road houses on this avenue, which is best 
reached Ijy Seventh avenue, above Central Park. The 
S()utliern Boulevaid starts from the bridge acioss the 
Harlem river at Thiid avenue, gradually swinging west- 
wai'd, and finally joining Jerome avenue at Jerome 
I*ark. 

Riding. — There are fine bridle Paths in Central Park 
and a bridle path in Riverside Park. Riding in the 
ring nuiy l)e practiced at the following well-equipped 
riding-schools: Dickel's (the oldest in the city), 124 
West Fifty-sixth street ; Durland's, at the Grand Circle, 
Eighth avenue and Fifty-ninth street, opposite the 
entrance to Central Park; Central Park Riding Acad- 
cjny. Fifty-eighth sti'eet and Seventh avenue; Antony's, 
Ninetieth street and Fifth avenue; West End, 189 West 
One Hundred and Twenty-fifth street; Belmont, One 
Hundred and Twenty-fourth street and St. Nicholas 
avenue; Boulevai'd, Sixtieth street and the Boulevard. 
An hour's ride in the ring costs about f L50, and on the 
road from |2.o() to $3.00. 

Base-bal/. — The base-ball season lasts from jMav to 



66 

November. The location at wliich the games take place 
being subject to change, the reader is referred to the ad- 
vertisements in the daily papers and the placards on tiie 
L railroad stations. One of the best known amateur 
clubs in the vicinity of New York is the Staten Island 
Cricket and Base-ball Club, with grounds at Livingston, 
S. I. 

Cricket. — Cricket has never been able to supplant or 
to seriously encroach upon the prerogatives of base-ball 
as the "national game" of the United States. There 
are several cricket clubs in New York and vicinity, 
among them the St. George, with grounds at Hoboken, 
and the Staten Island, with grounds at Livingston. 

Bicycling. — The roads of Central Park, Prospect Park 
(Brooklyn), and those around Orange, N. J., on the 
Morris and Essex Branch of the Delaware, Lackawanna 
and Western Railroad are well adapted to bicycling. 
Bicycles may be purchased at any of the sporting' goods 
stores. The principal clubs are: The New York, Fifty- 
seventh street, near Broadway; Citizens, Fifty-eighth 
street, near Eighth avenue, and Ixion, 4 East Fifty- 
ninth street. 

Tennis. — A number of tennis clubs have headquarters 
in a tennis court building on the south side of Forty-first 
street, near Seventh avenue; and there are tennis courts 
on the grounds of the various athletic clubs, and in the 
buddings of the larger of these clubs. 

Aquatics. — The niost accessible rowing course is on 
the Harlem river. Boats may be hired in the vicinity 
of the bridge crossing the Harlem at Third avenue, at 
One Hundred and Fifty-fifth street (terminus of the Sixth 
and Ninth avenue L railroads), and at High Bridge. 
The Columbia College Boat Club, Gramercyand Nassau, 
and the Young Men's Christian Association, have boat 
houses on the Harlem ; the New York and Manhattan 
Athletic Clubs respectively, at Travers' and Berrian's 
Island; the Alcyone, foot of Court street, Brooklyn; the 
Staten Island Athletic Club, at West Brighton,' S. I.; 
the Argonauta and New Jersey Athletic Clubs, at Ber- 
gen Point, N. J. There is also a fine rowing course at 
Newark, on the Passaic river. The usual rate of boat 
liire is fifty cents for the first liour, the rate for time 
after the first hour being considerably less, 



m 

Canoeing. — The principal clubs are the New York, 
with a house at Tompkinsville, Staten Island, and the 
Knickerbocker, at the foot of West One Hundred and 
Fifty-second street. 

Yachting. — The foremost yacht club of New Yo'-k and 
viciniry is the New York Yacht Club, which boasts a 
fleet of some 205 vessels, among them some fifty steam 
yachts. Its trophies include the famous "America 
Cup." Club-house, 67 Madison avenue. Other clubs 
are the Atlantic, at Bay Ridge; the Seawanhaka, at 
Tompkinsville, S. I. ; the Harlem, at 519 East One 
Hundred and Twenty-first street; the Larchmont, at 
Larchmont, on the Sound; and the American, at Rye, 
Westchester Co. For regattas and steamers going over 
the course, see advertisements in the daily papers. At 
45 Beaver street, yachts nuiy be chartered for a cruise 
or season. 

Skatitig. — This sport may be enjoyed free of charge 
on the lakes in Central Park, Prospect Park (Brooklyn), 
and Van Cortlandt Park (reached by New York and 
Northern Railroad). At Central and Prospect Parks 
commodious structures with restaurants and other con- 
veniences are erected, and skates can be hired for 25 
cents an hour. 

Tu?'f. — The New Yoi-k Jockey Club has superbly 
appointed tracks and buildings (in the Pompeian villa 
style), at Morris Park, Westchester, New York. The 
Coney Island Jockey Club has its tracks at Sheepshead 
Bay near Coney Island. The Monmouth Park Racing 
Association has beautiful grounds and buildings at 
Monmouth Park, near Long Branch, N. J., its first 
meeting opening July 4th. Other race tracks worthy of 
a visit are at Linden and Elizabeth, N. J. The meet- 
ings, the routes to tiie various tracks and railroad and 
admission charges are duly advertised in the daily news- 
papers. 

Fox Hunting Clubs. — The Rockaway Hunting Club, 
at Far Rockaway; The Meadow Brook, Hempstead, near 
Garden City, L. I. ; The Essex County, a branch of the 
P]ssex County Country Club, Orange, N. J. Mounts 
cainiot be hired as readily as they can in England. The 
hunts are drag hunts, a fox being sometimes turned 
loose at the end of the drag. 



MONEY. 

The money ordinarily in use in the United States ( 
consists of the following coins : 1 cent (copper), 5 I 
cents (nickel), 10 cents, 25 cents (quarter of a dollar), j 

50 cents (half a dollar),, and 100 cents or $1.00, the last 
three being of silver. There are also $2.50, $5.00, 
$10.00 and $20.00 gold pieces, and $1.00, $2.00, $5.00, 
$10.00 and $20.00 bills, and so on up to $10,000. An 
English pound sterling is worth $4.86, subject to varia- 
tions in exchange rate. 

DIRECTORIES AND RAILWAY GUIDES. 

Trow's New York City Directoi-y contains, besides a list 
of names, a great amount of miscellaneous information, 
such as the official register of the City Government, lists 
of churches, clubs, etc. Mackey's A B C Guide and 
Bullinger's Counting House Monitor, both issued weekly, 
give the latest local railroad and steamboat information, 
movements of ocean steamers, postage and telegraph 
rates, etc. These publications are found at all hotels and 
other semi-public phices, and Trow's is also to be con- 
sulted at most drug stores. Railway guides for the 
whole countrv are: Official Railway Guide, 50 cents; 
Rand, McNal'ly & Co.'s Official Guide, 25 cents; Knick- 
erbocker Railway Guide, 25 cents; X Y Z Guide, 25 
cents. The Pathfinder covers New England only, 25 
cents. 



CHAPTER I. 



BEDLOE'S, ELLIS AND GOVERNOR'S ISLANDS. 

Statue of Liberty. — Auguste Bartholdi's " Liberty 
Enlightening the Worhl," the largest statue of both 
ancient and modern times, stands on Bedloe's Island, 
part of the State of New Jersey, a mile and three-quar- 
ters from the Battery, and about the same distance from 
the other shores of tlie harbor. It is reached by steamer 
from tlie Battery, hourly every daj^ from 9 A. M. to 
5 P. M. Fare for the round trip, 25 cents. 

Bedloe's Island derives its name from Isaac Bedloe, a 
Dutch settler, who purchased it of the Colonial Govern- 
ment. During the Revolution, Captain Kennedy, com- 
mander of tlie British naval station in.New York, bought 
it for a summer residence, and it was called Kennedy 
Ishind. In 1800 the United States acquired it and 
erected a fort on it. The present double star-shaped 
fortification, Fort Wood, within wliich the pedestal for 
the statue stands, and which is a feature of great archi- 
tectuial value in the view of the colossal monunitnt, was 
built in 1841. 

The idea of executing a colossal statue, emblematic of 
Liberty, and commemorative of the traditional good-will 
between France and the United States, to be presented 
by the former to the latter, seems to have been conceived 
by Bartholdi soon after the establishment of the French 
Republic in 1872. In order that the work should be 
truly international, it was decided that, while the 
statue shouhl be presented by the people of France, the 
pedestal should l)e erected l)y the people of the LTnited 
States. The undertaking was launched at a banquet at 
the Hotel de Louvre, Paris, November 6, 1875. A com- 
mittee was formed in the United States, and the neces- 
sary legislation securing Bedloe's Island as a site for the 
statue was procured from Congress. Richard M. Hunt 



to 

and Gen. Charles P. Stono (Stone Pacha) acted respect- 
ively as architect of the pedestal and engiiieer-iii-cluef. 

The right arm of the statue was exhibited at the Cen- 
tennial in Philadelphia (1876) and afterwards in Madison 
Square, New York. The head was executed for the Paris 
Exposition of 1878. October 24, 1881, the anniversary 
of the battle of Yorktown, all the pieces of the base and 
frame-work were put in place; Oliver P. Morton, then 
United States minister to France, riveting the first piece 
mounted, the left foot. Ground for the pedestal was 
broken in April, 1883, and the work was continued until 
December, 1884, wdien, owing to a lack of funds, it was 
suspended. Finally these were supplied by a popular 
subscription through the New Y'ork World, and the 
statue, having been brought over from France in the 
transport Isere, was unveiled with appropriate cere- 
monies, October 28, 1886. 

The colossal proportions of the statue forbidding its 
being carved in stone or cast in metal, the sculptor de- 
termined upon sheets of copper (repousse) laid upon a 
skeleton of stone, wood and iron, a method which had 
been employed on the immense statue of Carlo Borro- 
meo, cardinal and saint, erected two centuries ago on the 
shore of Lago Maggiore. The statue is supported by an 
iron truss-work, the core of which is formed by four 
large stanchions, bound together by St. Andrew's 
crosses, from wdiich outgoing braces support the surface 
of the statue. From the foot of the stanchions bolted 
braces run 26 feet into the masonry of the pedestal, 
where they are connected with an iron frame-work. 

The pedestal is an admirable work of architecture, 
supporting without dwarfing the statue, wdiose noble 
proportions thus produce their full effect upon the be- 
holder. The solid concrete foundation, ninety feet 
square at the base, sixty-five feet square at the top and 
sixty-five feet ten inches in height, is the largest single 
block of artificial stone in the \vorld. The pedestal 
itself is eighty-nine feet high, 'o that the surface upon 
which the statue stands is one hundred and fifty-four 
feet and ten inches above the base of the foundation. 
The statue itself rises one hundred and fifty-one feet and 
one inch, so that the whole work is three hundred and 
five feet eleven inches in height. The statue weighs 



71 

450,000 pounds, or 225 tons; the bronze alone 200,000 
pounds. In money, vnlue of services which were given 
free, etc., the statue cost about |200,000; the pedestal 
about 1800,000. Following are a number of interesting 
measurements: 

Feet. Inches. 

Heig'ht from base to torcli 1,)1 i 

Foundation of pedestal to torch 8 5 11 

Heel to top of head Ill 6 

Length of hand 16 5 

Index finger 8 

Circumference at second .ioint 7 6 

Size of finger nail 13x10 inches. 

Head from chin to cranium 17 3 

Head, thickness from ear to ear 10 

Distance across the eye 2 6 

Length of nose 4 6 

Right arm, length 42 

Right arm, greatest thickness 12 

Thickness of waist 35 

Width of mouth 3 

Tablet, length 23 7 

Tablet, width 13 7 

Tablet, thickness -. 2 

Other famous statues of colossal size compare with the 
" Liberty Eidigiitening the World" as follows: 

Feet. 

Jupiter Olympus 43 

Memnon 62 

Borromeo. at Lake Maggiore 6G 

Arminius, in Westphalia 92 

Colossus, Rhodes 105 

Nero (about) 118 

Statue of Liberty 151 

The statue may be descrilied as a di'aped female figure 
crowned with a diadem, a flaring torch in the uplifted 
rigiit hand, and a tablet held close to the body by the 
left. Its artistic value has been seriously questioned, 
))ut the fact remains that it is, next to the East River 
Bridge, the most imposing feature in the view of New 
York harbor from the south, and unqualifiedly the most 
inq>osing in any view of which the bridge is not a part. 
On fair days the steamer plying between the Battery 
and Bedloe's Island is crowded every trip. Admission 
to the pedestal and statue is free, a s])ecial permit being, 
however, lequired for admission to the right arm and 
torch. These permits are issued by the Major General 
commanding the Department of the Atlantic on Gover- 



72 

nor's Island, and by the Engineer and Inspector of the 
Third Lighthouse District, Tompkinsville, Staten Island. 
One liundred and seventy-three steps lead to the balcony 
on the pedestal ; one hundred and sixty-four from the 
balcony to the head, which will comfortably hold forty 
people; and fifty-six from the head up the arm to the 
balcony around the torch, which will hold twelve people. 
In all, therefore, the steps number three hundred and 
ninety-three. Before beginning the ascent visitors are 
obliged to check overcoits, wraps, canes, umbrellas, 
etc., with the guard, who also lets out lanterns for a 
small fee. As the passage np and down the spiral stair- 
ways within the statue itself is in places very dark, the 
use of lanterns is advisable. The ascent to the balcony 
is easy, and one which all visitors should make, as from 
this point a superb view of New York and of the East 
River Bridge is had. Governor's Island, with its green 
mounds and its fortifications mellowed by age; the 
superb sweep of the waters of the harbor around tlie Bat- 
tery into the North and East rivers, the cluster of towers 
and spires and the noble span of the bridge, a model of 
strength and grace — these are the chief elements in a 
view in which the grand and the picturesque are won- 
derfully harmonized. The ascent through the statue 
itself is arduous, and should not be attempted by any 
one who is nervous or not in prime physical condition. 
There are windows in the diadem from which a magnifi- 
cent view is to be had, and that from the torch balcony 
is still grander. 

The statue forms part of the light-house system of the 
United States, there being nine duplex electric lights in 
the torch. This light is visible 24^^ miles at sea, or 
jnore than ten miles beyond the outside light-ship. Be- 
side this there are five single arc lamps on the salients 
of the fort within which the statue stands, so that the 
light will be thrown on tlie statue, thus making it even 
more striking by night than by day. This beacon is 
not included in the system of lights for New York har- 
bor. As many as 1,500 birds have killed themselves in a 
single night, flying against the lighted torch. 

Ellis Island. — The facilities of the Barge Office, 
(p. 76), having proved entirely inadequate to dispose. 



quickly of the immigration passing through it, there 
has just been completed on Ellis Island, which lies be- 
tween Bedloe's Island and the New Jersey shore, a new 
landing depot for immigrants. 

Ellis Island, area two-and-a-half acres, was formerly 
the site of Fort Giljson, dismantled in 1861, when the 
island was occuj^iedas a naval magazine. It at onetime 
belonged to the Ellis estate, and every child born on it 
has been christened Ellis. Nearly fifty years ago, three 
pirates, nmong them the noted Gibbs, wei-e executed 
there. The superstitious Battery boatmen tell a roman- 
tic story about a young girl, who assisted her soldier 
lover to escape from confinement on the Island in a boat, 
but the boat was capsized and both were drowned, and 
the boatmen are fully convinced that the spirits of 
these two lovers are seen strolling along the beach of the 
island, arm in arm, on the night of the anniversary of 
their deatii. 

Ellis Island is reached by ferry from the Battery. In 
an indentation on the south side is a fine basin 800 feet 
long by 200 feet wide. The dirt dredged from this 
basin was used to add to the area of the island. The 
island is jn'otected on the northeast side by a crib-work 
breakwater, 356 feet long and 40 feet wide, which runs 
past the opening of the basin so as to keep it clear from 
all obstructions. A short distance back from the basin, 
facing it and the Nari'ows, is the building for the recep- 
tion and regis! ration of immigrants. The n)ain struc- 
ture is 250 feet long by 200 feet wide, with two wings, 
one story in height, 120 feet long and 80 feet wide, so 
that the entire frontage is 490 feet. Four towers, each four 
stories high, rise at each corner, and in the front center 
is a pediment with three story towers on each side. On 
the first floor are the general, local and railroad bng- 
gage offices and offices for baggage checkers. On the 
east end of the second story are I'ooms for the officials. 
The offices of the physicians and the receiving hospital 
are in a separate building. Immigrants enter double 
door-ways on either side of the main entrance, and pass 
upstairs into three compartnuMits, after which they pass 
tlii'cmgh narrow aisles before the registry clerks. North 
of these rooms are two large waiting-rooms. West of 



74 

tlio regie^try depart nieiit. on the sot-oiul floor, are the 
telei;ra}>h otViees, money exehaiiue. ami the railnmil and 
ticket ollues, Drinkinu' water is furnij^lieil from artesian 
wells. Immiiirants. liavinij: been registered, and having 
pmvliased railroad tiekets or met their friends, }>roeeed 
tlownstairs to the baggage-room and piek out their bag- 
gage. As immigrants from all i)arts of tiie "world come 
tt>"New' York, it is necessary that the registry clerks 
speak from six to eight hinguages. There are, besides 
the otVu'ial attendants, a number of missionaries ^Yho 
distribute Bibles, and are also ready to give advice to 
immigrants. The f)hysicians in charge t>f the dispensary 
give treatment on the spot, or in serious cases transfer 
the patient to some hospital. About five hundred people 
a numth are treated, imnngrants being entitled to free 
treatment iov a year after the date of arrival. 

The number of immigrants of all nationalities — and it 
is most interesting to watch the sti'ange faces and 
costumes of those wlu^ pour into the country out (^f this 
otRce — in 1800 was orHJ.olO. In 1888 the number was 
383,095, and in 1880, 455.000. 

Goveknor's Island. — On Governor's Island, ijo acres in 
area, and a mile and a quarter in circumference, situated 
abont 1,000 yards oft" the Battery, ami separated from 
the Brooklyn shore by what is known as Buttermilk 
cliannel, formerly so shallow that there was at low tide 
land connection between Governor's and Long Islantls, 
are the headiiuarters of the !\lilitary PepartnuMit of the 
Atlantic. It is reached by governnuMit steand)oat from 
foot of Whitehall street. 

The Island is well shaded and swarded, having been 
in the earlier days of the Dutch settlement one of the 
richest pastures in the province. Its most striking fea- 
ture from the water is Castle \Villian\ on the northwest 
point, a stone work completed in 1811. witli three tiers 
of casemates from whieh cannon protrude. On the sea- 
wall in front of it is the sunset gun, which is discharged 
at sunset as a sigmd to vessels to display their lights. 
()n the northern shore of the Islaml is the New York 
arsenal of the Uuiteil Statt>s Ordnance IVpartment, the 
ground being covered by pyiamids of cannon-balls and 
by large guns. A little Iteycnd this is a budding u\ 
which the United Slates .Vlilitarv Service Institiition 



75 

inuiiiljiins a military nnisfMini, jinioii^llio olijcctsof in- 
terest bein^ IIm; weli-inounled slulTed skin of Kien/i, tli(; 
cliarger who bore (iciienil Slieridjui oti liis ffinious dash 
of tw(.'iity miles from Winchester to Five Forks, where 
his timely arrival turned a route into a victory for the 
Union arms. Foi't ('olumbus, a stonework containing 
several commodious buildini^s used chiefly as adminis- 
trative ofTices, is situated at about the center of the Isl- 
jind. The parade ^n-ound is a beautiful stretch of smooth 
lawn. T\\<i South Jiattery is a snuill triangular work on 
the southern })oint. Althouj^di every provision is made 
for adding to the strength of the foiiifications by throw- 
ing u[) earthworks, Govei-nor's Island is not a very 
formidable means of defense, but it is preserved as a 
military post lar^^-ly because of the ease from which 
troops could be landed from there should it be necessary 
to suppress a riot in New York. The cattle from the 
first two slnps dispatched by the West Jndia Company 
in 1625 for Maidialtan Jshiiidwei'C landed on Governor's 
Island; but want of water necessitated their speedy 
transfer to Maidiattan. ]n lO:}? Governor Van Twiller 
bought the Island, then cHJled Nutten, and since his 
purchase it has been known by its present name. 



CHAPTER II. 



BATTERY TO WALL STREET. 

The Battery. — The Btittery, the southernmost point of 
the Island of Manhattan, is upon made ground, the island 
having extended originally only to about Pearl street. In 
1693, there being rumors of a French expedition against 
New York, the " The \\"]iitehall Battery "was erected 
on a heavy platform laid upon Schreyer's Hook, a ledge 
extending from the southern end of the island, and end- 
ing in "The Capske," a number of jutting rocks. Ac- 
cording to a description of the city in 1756, this battery 
was built of stone, and the merlons of cedar joints filled 
in with earth, and mounted ninety-two cannon. From 
this point the British evacuated Xew York, November 
25, 1783. 

Tlie water-front was originally at what is now Pearl 
street, and Water, Front and South streets were subse- 
quently formed by filling in. Similarly much of the 
Battery was made. It is now largely occupied as a pub- 
lic park with tliirty-one acres richly laid out, well shaded 
and open to all the sea breezes. It was in colonial days 
the most fashionable part of the city, lined with resi- 
dences of wealthy citizens. These were long since con- 
verted into office buildings, mission houses or ware- 
liouses. Here are the South, Hamilton, Thirty-ninth 
Street (Brooklyn), Bay Eidge and Staten Island Ferries 
and the boats for Ellis, Liberty and Governor's Island. 
All the elevated roads have tiieir southern terminus at 
this point. 

Barge Office. — The first building of any note on the 
water front west of the ferries, is the Barge Office. Here 
are a branch office of the Surveyor of the Port and the 
headquarters of the Customs Inspectors, and here during 
the interval between the alxindonment of Castle Garden 



77 

and the occupancy of Ellis Island, was the depot for the 
landine: of immigrants. 

U. S. Ilarine Hospital. — Adjoining the Barge Office 
on the east side is the United States Marine Hospital. 
Here there is a dispensary, the hospital being at Staple- 
ton, Staten Island. Sailors of the American merchant 
marine are entitled to free treatment at this dispensary 
and hospital. Here men for the revenue marine and for 
the life-saving service are examined, and pilots undergo 
a special examination for color-blindness. The office 
registers about six hundred visits a month. 

Next to the Barge Office on the west side is the land- 
ing for the boat to Bedloe's Island (p. 69). Adjoining this 
is an L-shaped basin where the Battery boatmen keep 
row-boats, holding from twelve to fourteen persons, the 
charge being $1.00 an hour. Between here and Castle 
Garden is a fine sea-wall, from which one has a superb 
view over the water, and can watch the lively panorama 
of ferry-boats, tow-boats, steamers, tugs and sailing- 
craft. 

Castle Garden. — Castle Garden, which stands upon 
this sea-wall, was until the spring of 1890 tiie landing 
place for immigrants, the control of immigrants being 
then taken from the State authorities by the Unitecl 
States Government. It was erected during the war of 
1812 as a fortification, and was reached by a bridge, but 
afterwards the space between it and the shore was filled 
in. Being compai'atively useless as a fort, it was con- 
verted into a summer garden. Here, August 16, 1828, 
Lafayette landed upon a carpeted stairway under an 
arch decorated with flags and wreathed with laurels. In 
the evening an immense balloon, re[)resenting a knight 
mounted upon the famous racer Eclipse, was sent up from 
the Garden. In 1832 President Jackson, and in 1843 
President Tyler held receptions here, and September 7, 
1850, Jenny' Lind made her American debut under the 
management of P. T. Barnum. It was opened as a 
landing depot for immigrants in August, 1855. The first 
immigrants who passed through it came on the German 
bark Europa, and walked ashore from the vessel's gang- 
plank. 

Pier A. — Beyond Castle Garden is Pier A, where the 
police boat Patrol has its landing. At the pier are the 



headquarters of two police precincts, the Twcnty-fourtli 
and the Twenty-eighth, and llie Department of Docks. 
The Patrol is the station of the Twenty-fourth Precinct, 
which is thus always afloat. Besides the steamboat this 
precinct has seven row-boats, four of which are con- 
tinually on patrol along the wharves, looking out for 
smugglers, river thieves, and for lost articles and 
suicides, or cases of accidental drowning. The jurisdic- 
tion of the precinct extends as far south as Robins Reef, 
and up the Hudson and East river to the ends of the 
city bouiularies. On the Patrol are fine fire pumps, 
which have often been brought into successful requisition 
quelling conflagrations along shore. The precinct has 
also done capital service in suppressing mutinies on 
vessels anchored in tiie harbor, and in restoring order 
upon excursion boats, where free fights have been in 
progress. The Twenty-eiglith Precinct does impor- 
tant duty in patroling the docks and bulk-heads on the 
west side up to Fourteenth sti-eet, and on the east side 
to Pier 25 at Gouverneur's Slip. 

Adjoining Pier A is the Iron Steamboat Company's 
Pier, and next to this, on West street, is Pier 1. occupied 
by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company as a freight 
depot. This corner gives the stranger an excellent idea 
of the enormous amount of business transacted along 
the water front. Bales, cases, and barrels are heaped up 
on this pier, and dozens of carts and diays are engaged 
in loading and unloading fi-eight. All is seemingly 
bustle and confusion, and yi t everything is conducted 
according to a system. 

The elevated railroad runs in an undulatingline through 
the Battery into Green wicii street. Near the sea-wall 
between the Barge Office and Castle Garden is a band 
stand where concerts are given in summer, and on such 
occasions there is an immense outpouring of humanity 
from the lower wards of the city. The Battery is bounded 
on the north by State street, which sweeps around to 
West street. To the east of South Ferry, South street 
begins and Whitehall street leads directly up from the 
ferry to Bowling Green. 

Battery to Bowling GreExX. — Between the ferry and 
Bowling Green are several of the oldest citv streets, but 



79 

before beginning a tour in this direction, it may be well 
for the visitor to take a glance down South street, where 
a perfect forest of masts will give him an excellent idea 
of the vast amount of shipping carried on from this port. 
At the foot of Moore street, and also at Coenties Slip, 
both of them but a short distance from South Ferry, in- 
numerable canal-boats and barges are moored, for it is 
here that most of the large tows are made up or dis- 
persed. 

Moore street is particularly interesting because the 
first wharf of the city was built on its line. This wharf 
is mentioned as early as 1644, and extended from the 
present Pearl street, whose north side then touched the 
river, only far enough out to make possible the landing 
of goods by scows and snudl boats. In 1659 it was ex- 
tended fifty feet, and near it on Pearl street, between 
Whitehall and Broad streets, some of the Dutch mer- 
chants had their principal warehouses. Wiiitehall street 
derived its name from a large dwelHng supposed to have 
been erected by Pt-trus Stuyvesant (p. 19) at the corner 
of Whitehall and State streets. Water street is interest- 
ing because it marks the first attempt of the city to win 
territory from the harbor. The city sold water lots between 
the present Whitehall street and Old Slip, on condition 
that the purchasers should fill in the street and protect 
it by a line of bulkheads in front of their lots. Front and 
South streets were subsequently added. Bridge street 
derived its name becau-^e on its line a bridge crossed the 
ditch which anciently ran through the middle of Broad 
street. Stone street was so named because it was tlie 
first street to be paved with stone under an ordinance of 
1667. On Whitehall street is the United States Army 
building, which occupies the east side of the block be- 
tween Water and Pearl streets. It has a fortress-like 
base of granite extending two stories in height, the rest 
of it being in brick. Its entrance resembles a sallyport, 
and over it the seal of the War Department is hewn in 
granite. This building is a branch of, the War Depart- 
ment, and is under its orders only. It is a depot for 
quartermaster's supplies and the like. 



80 

Fraunces' Tavern. — A short detour from "Whitehall 
street through Pearl street to Broad leads to one of the 
most famoiis historic sites and buildings in the city, the 
old Fraunces' Tavern, which is still a public-house. 

It was originally built by Etienne Delancey, a Hugue- 
not, who arrived in New York in 1686. He was a mer- 
chant of considerable wealth, to which he added greatly 
by his commercial successes here. When, in 1700, he 
married into the Van Courtlandt family, his father-in- 
law conveyed this property to him. Wlien Delancey, in 
1762, built a new residence at what is now the Boreel 
Building, 115 Broadway, Samuel Fraunces opened the 
Pearl street house, under the sign ''Queen Charlotte," 
as a tavern. It owes its historical fame to the fact that 
in its great room, which is still preserved, in the second 
story, Washington delivered his farewell address to his 
officers in 1783. Here, also, in 1768, the New York 
Chamber of Commerce began to hold its meetings. The 
old room is now somewhat gaudily pa})ered. On the 
south wall hangs a cheap portrait of Washington, a 
cheap print of Washington bidding farewell to his 
officers, and a pair of horns which, when alterations were 
being made in the building, were dug out from near the 
foundations. On the west wall are copies of minutes of 
the Chamber of Commerce, showing that it was insti- 
tuted here April 5, 1768, the tavern then being kept 
by Bolton & Siegel, and copies of another minute dated 
Tuesday, the 6th December, 1768, which reads: 

*• Resolved, a proper room for the meeting of the members of 
the Chamber of Commerce is to be provided and the Treasurer 
is to liave. Bread, and Cheese, Beer, Puiicli, Pipes and Tobat-o, 
provided at the expence of the members present, so tliat it doth 
n >t exceed one shilling? each man. which each person is to pay 
to the Treasm*er at their respective meeting." 

On the same wall hangs a fac-simile of a hand-bill, 
which Fraunces issued September 10, 1770, when he 
again became proprietor of the tavern. This hand-bill 
reads: 

" On Thursday the 20th instant, will be opened the Queen's- 
Head Tavern near the Exchange, for many years kept by the 
subscriber, (late by Bolton & Siegel), is now fitting up in the 
most genteel and convenient manner for tlie Iveception and En- 
tertainment of tliose genth^men. Ladies and otliers. who may 
please to favor him with tlieir company. As the best clubs and 



81 

the greatest entertainmeiits in this city were at the above tav- 
ern, in the time of the subscriber, he flatters himself the pub- 
lic are so well satisfied of his ability to serve them as to render 
the swelling of an advertisement useless other than to assure 
his former friends, and the public in general, that every en- 
deavor will be used to give them the highest satisfaction, and 
the utmost respect on all occasions shown by their already much 
obliged and very 

Obedient servant, 

Samuel Fraunces. 
N. B.— Dinners and suppers dressed to send out for lodgers and 
others who live at a convenient distance. Also cakes, tarts, 
jellies, whip-siliybubs, blaiimage, sweetmeats, etc., in any quan- 
tity, cold meat in small quantities, beefsteaks, etc., at any hour, 
pickled oysters for the West Indies or elsewhere." 

In this famous room where the beaux and belles of old 
New York feasted, during the intervals between danc- 
ing, on tarts and sillylnibs, the guest can now sit down 
to a meal of h^rankfurter sausages and sauerkraut. 

Produce Exchange, — On the east side of Whitehall 
street the block between Stone and Beaver streets is oc- 
cupied by the superb fire-proof granite, brick, terra cotta 
and iron building of the New York Produce Exchange, 
finished May 1, 1884. The building is 300x150 feet, 
and opens on the northeast side upon a broad terrace. 
Prom the street to the roof of tlie main structure the 
heigiit is 116 feet, to the coping of the tower 225 feet, 
aiul to the top of flag-staif 306 feet. The tower clock 
measures 12 feet in diameter, each number on its face 
is a foot in length, and the flag 50 feet by 20 feet is said 
to be the largest ever made. Tlie ground floor is occu- 
pied by the Produce Exchange Bank, a branch of the 
United States Post-office, the Western Union Telegraph 
Company, the chief New York branch of the Penn- 
sylvania Railroad Company and the Maritime Exchange. 
On the second floor is the enormous hall of the ex- 
change, 220 feet by 141 feet, and 60 feet high to the sky- 
light. It is said that 7,000 men could transact business 
comfortably on this floor. The long tables provided with 
drawers and compartments contain samples of various 



articles dealt in on the exchange, and are leased to men 
bers. Wheat is dealt in aronnd a circular series of steps 
sunk into the floor of the exchange and called the jiit. 
Scattei-ed over this room are telegraph and telephone 
booths, tables for reporters and boards on which the 
prices are listed, Back of the pit is what is known as 
the call-room, in which 500 seats arranged like those of 
an amphitheatre ascend from the floor. Here grain and 
and provisions are dealt in. On the third floor there is 
a visitors' gallery, from which the bustling life of the 
exchange may be watched. Of course, the business is 
transacted in a much quieter manner than that of the 
Stock Exchange (p. 98). There is a steady hum, and 
at times perha[)S a roar, l)ut there is a certain continuity 
of sound here, very diffei-ent from the screeches and 
yells so characteristic of the Stock Exchange. On the 
third floor are rooms for various officers and commit- 
tees, and in the reception-room is a large picture of the 
laying of the corner stone in which numerous portraits 
are introduced. Above this are four stories of offices. 
In the basement are vaults for deposit and storage, and 
Turkish and Russian baths. 

A feature of the Produce Exchange that is appreciated 
by about 300 visitors daily, is the tower, built in the 
style of a campanile and i-eached by one of the elevators 
on the Stone street side which ascends 14 stories; a flight 
of stairs leading one story flight r to the roof. From 
here is had a supei'b view of the city and its environs. 
Everything lies spread out to beholders like a map. To 
tlie south is Battery Park, the Barge Office and the un- 
dulating line of tiie elevated road as it curves around to- 
wards Greenwich street. Governor's Island, Bedloe's 
Island lie like restful spots of green in the shimmering 
expanse of harbor. Bt-yond are the Narrows. 1'he view 
to the west embraces Brooklyn Heights, the East River 
Bridge and the East river as far as the bend which it 
makes towards the east. Nearer by is the Cotton Ex- 



change, a yellow biick building on Hanover sqnare. 
Straight norih is a view of Broad street and Wall street, 
and above the roofs on Broadway is Trinity spire. The 
Hudson river can be followed up as far as the beginning 
of the Palisades. To the west are the Orange INlountains, 
and nearer by Castle Garden and the Washington Build- 
ing at No. 1 Broadway. 

The Produce Exchange represents a total expenditure 
of about 13,200,000. The following statistics in regard 
to the material employed will be of interest as showing 
the grand scale on which buildings in Xew York are 
erected: It consumed 12.000,000 brick, 15 miles of iron 
girder. If miles of columns, 2,061 tons of terra cotta, 
7^ miles of sash cords and chains, and 21) miles of 
steam pipes. The elevators carry about 23,000 people 
a day. 

The first meeting of an Exchange in New York was 
on a bridge which, at Exchange Place, crossed the ditch 
once running through Broad street. This was March 
24, 1670. The first Exchange building was erected in 
1690, at the foot of Broad street. In 1754 the Eoyal 
Exchange was built ui)on arches over a canal at the foot 
of Broad street. From this the Exchange went to the 
Merchants' Exchange, now the United States Custom 
House in Wall street. The New York Produce Ex- 
change assumed its name and succeeded to the rights of 
various bodies in 1808. It was then located at tlie cor- 
ner of Wliitehall and Pearl streets, the l)uilding having 
been erect(Ml in 1860. The present site was purchased 
in 1880. The membership of the Exchange is limitwl 
to 2,000. It is coutrolled by a President, Vice-Presi- 
dent. Treasurer and twelve Maiuigers, who together con- 
stitute the Board of Managei's. Besides arbitration 
committees for each trade a|)p()inted by the President, 
there is a general final arbitration comnuttee of five 
members not managers, elected by ballot of the Board. 
Attendance of witnesses is compulsory, and no appeal is 
admissible unless fraud or corruption is alleged. A 
comi)hunt committee takes cognizance of accusations 
against members, and seeks to restore hai'inony or to in- 
duce ai'bitration; if the committee fails in these points, 
the dispute is referred to the Board of Managers, whose 
action is final. The rooms of the Exchange are open for 



84 

business fr'^m 9 A. M. to 4 P. M., excepting Saturdays, 
when the Exchange takes a half-holiday. The Exchange 
is believed to do the largest business of any similar insti- 
tution in the world. 

A few statistics will give an idea of the amount of 
business transacted on the Exchange: In 1889 2,947,005 
barrels of flour were dealt in; 1,123,148.600 bushels of 
wheat; 258. 185,800 bushels of corn; 90.108,000 bushels 
of oats; 828,050 bushels of rve; 1,817.150 bushelsof bar- 
ley; 78.080 barrels of pork; 1,029,855 tierces of lard, 
and 21,569.000 pounds of tallow. 

The Maritime Eixhanye, to the left of the Beaver 
street entrance, is open from 8 A. M. to 5 P. M. Its 
large membership is composed chiefly of persons inter- 
ested directly or indirectly in maritime commerce. It 
reports maritime and commercial news, and more espec- 
ially furnishes a record of the movements of vessels in 
advance of the daily papers. It has an excellent mari- 
time library, and tiie Hydrographic Office of the Navy 
De[)artment, which publishes the valuable llonthly Pilot 
Chart, has its quarters in the Exchange. For a fee of 
$1 the Exchange will send to any point in the city no- 
tice of the arrival of a vessel in time for the person no- 
tified to reach the wharf befoi'e the vessel 

Bowling Green. — The site now inclosed by Bowling 
Green, Whitehall, Bridge and State streets is perhaps 
the most interesting liistorical portion of the city. This 
was the original lower end of Manhattan Island, and 
within its limits, early in tlie spring of 1615, a small log- 
fort was erected. In 1626 this small fort was replaced 
by a red cedar i)alisade surrounding a storehouse, the 
whole being erected by an engineer brought over for 
that special purpose by Minuit. It could not have been 
a, very formidal)le fortification, for there is a tradition 
that a goat which once assumed the offensive was able 
to fight its way through the palisades. Near by it the 
erection of the first church on Manhattan Island (Re- 
formed Dutch) was begun in 1633 (p. 124). 

The fort was demolisjied in 1787, and a Government 



85 

lioiise was built, it being then supposed that the United 
States Government would be permanently located in 
New York. It was a stately red brick structure, v;ith 
Ionic columns. After the seat of government was re- 
moved to Philadelphia it served as a residence for the 
State Governors, among them George Clinton and Jay, 
but became, soon after the beginning of the present cen- 
tury, the United States custom-house. It was taken 
down in 1815, and the present block of houses now occu- 
pied by steamship offices and foreign consulates was put 
up for purposes of residence. 

Bowling Green is the old drill-ground in front of the 
sallyport of the ancient fort. Two roads ran from it, one 
along tiie present line of Broadway as far as City Hall 
Park, the other to the Long Island Ferry at what is now 
Peck Slip. In 1659,and for thirty years thereafter.Bowling 
Green was the scene of an annual cattle fair which drew 
great crowds to town, many inducements being held'out 
to visitors, among them exemption from liability to 
arrest for debt. In 1732, the space in front of the fort 
was leased to several residents on Broadway, and was 
converted into a bowling green. In the fall of 1770, 
about the time the angry feelings which finally led to the 
Revolution had been temporarily subdued by concessions 
on the part of Great Britain, a leaden equestrian statue of 
George III arriv^ed and was erected on Bowling Green, 
the space being inclosed by an iron railing built by 
the city at a cost of £800. Statue and railing stood 
until the evening of July 9, 1770, when the Declaration 
of Indei)endence having been read from the City Hall in 
Wall street, they were demolished by theexciteil soldiers 
and populace. The statue was hewn to pieces and sent 
to Oliver Wolcott, at Litchfield, Connecticut, whose 
wife and daughters manufactured 42.000 bullets from 
the lead. When, during the Revolution, Connecticut 
was invaded by the British, 400 Briii-^h soldiers were 
slain by bullets made from the statue of their King, 

Broadway runs out of Bowling Green on the line of 
the old road which extended straight up to City Hall 
Park. 

No. 1 Bt'oadivay. — No. 1 Broadway, which occui)ies 
the west corner at the beginning of this great thorough- 



86 

fare, is not only a handsome and important office-build- 
ing, but it also stands upon a site of considerable historic 
interest. Here stood the Kennedy mansion, built in 1745 
by Archibald Kennedy, the eleventh earl of Cassilis. It 
would be considered a fine dwelling even to-day. It was 
entered through a.handsomely carved doorway, the halts 
were wide, the staircases broad and the rooms spacious. 
The parlor measured about fifty feet in length, and opened 
through an arch ui)onaporch which could accommodate 
a cotillon. No. 8 Bioadway was the Watts mansion, and 
the two houses were connected by a bridge, so that when 
large entertainments were given they could be thrown 
into one. The gardens extended to the North River and 
were overlooked by broad piazzas. General Putnam 
had his headquarters at this house, and here, July 20. 
1776, Washington received Colonel Patterson, Lord 
Howe's Adjutant-General, who came charged with what 
the British considered conciliatory overtures. Lord 
Howe had sought previously to communicate with 
Washington, in a letter addressed ''George Washington, 
Esq." This the American Commander-in-chief had de- 
clined to receive. At the meeting at the Kennedy house 
Colonel Patterson produced a letter addressed "George 
Washington, Esq., etc., etc., etc.," explaining that the 
three etceteras were intended to cover Washington's 
official title. Washington declined to receive any com- 
munication not addressed to him by his full official title, 
saying that the etceteras might mean anything. Colonel 
Patterson then communicated verbally the substance of 
the letter, namely, that Lord and General Howe were 
empowered to pardon the rebellious colonists. The 
American Commander-in-chief replied that the colonists 
had committed no wrong which required pardon. The 
interview was without result other than to induce the 
Howes to address Washington by his official title in 
future. Washington entertained C^olonel Patterson at a 
collation at whicii he met the American General's offi- 
cers. In taking leave he asked Washington, '"Has your 
Excellency no command to my Lord or General Howe?" 
" None, sir," was the reply, " but my particular compli- 
ments to both of them." 

In 17S0, after Benedict Arnold's treason had been dis- 
covereil and he had escaped into the English lines, he 



I 



87. 

had quarters at the Kennedy house. About 33 years 
ago this was converted into the Washington Hotel, which 
in turn gave way to the present building. 

To stand at the head of Bowling Grreen and look up 
Broadway, gives one a contituious sense of motion as 
the crowds pour like a'steady stream up and down the 
street. Horse cars and other vehicles of all description 
are also in line, moving up or down town. Broadway 
is gradually being transformed into a lane between huge 
office buildings. The smaller structures are giving way 
and their giant successors are rearing their heads aloft. 
From the head of Bowling Green the most conspicuous 
is the huge granite building which runs through an L 
from Broadway to Beaver street, and is known as the 
Wells building, 18 Broadway. Adjoining it is the Stand- 
ard Oil Building, a granite pile as massive as the wealth 
which built it. Running from 41 to 45 Broadway is 
Aldrich Court. Tliis and the site occupied by No. 39 
Broadway, a small brown-stone office building, stands 
upon the ground where the first habitation of white men 
on Manhattan Island was located. An early American 
explorer, Captain Adrian Block, whose vessel, the Tiger, 
had been destroyed by fire, erected four houses or huts 
here for himself and his men in November, 1613. This 
same Captain Block (after whom Block Island is named) 
built a new vessel called the Unrest, of 38 feet keel, 
441^ feet on deck, and lli^ feet beam, which, except the 
canoes of the aborigines, was the first vessel launched 
in the waters of New York. Aldrich Court is an 
effective piece of architecture of brick upon a granite 
base. The Tower l:)uilding at 50 Broadway, witli its 11 
stories, is a remarkable example of a clever utilization of 
a narrow plot of ground. 

At the north-east corner of Broadway and Exchange 
place is the handsome building of the Consolidated 



4 



Stock and Petroleum Excliaiige, a rival of the Stock 
Exchange. In 1887, while the New York Stock Ex- 
change held its meetings in a room of the Mercliants' 
Exchatige, now the Custom House, an open board of 
brokers in opposition to it was organized in the Rotunda. 
Unable to force itself into the regular Stock Exchange 
room, its members cut away portions of the beams and 
dug out bricks at points in the flooring and walls of the 
board room, and obtained quotations by listening at 
the holes so made. This open board, however, proved a 
failure. A second one was organized in 1868 in a 
Williams street basement, sarcastically called "The 
Coal-hole." It gained members enough and did sufficient 
business to force the reguhir Exchange into a consolida- 
tion. The Stock Exchange lias, however, never had so 
great a rival as the Consolidated Stock and Petroleum 
Exchange, which originated in 1875 as the New York 
Mining Stock Exchange, and has by consolidation with 
various other Exchanges acquired its present name and 
influence. It moved into its liandsome new building in 
April, 1888. This fronts 91 feet on Broadway, 132 on 
Exchange place, and 87 on New street. The board-room 
contains nearly 10,000 square feet of space, and the ven- 
tilating and lighting appliances are of the best. 

At 80 Broadway is the huge yet graceful granite 
structure of the Union Trust Co., built by George B. 
Post. It is one of the handsomest buildings in the city, 
and a fine example of Romanesque, now being widely 
introduced. It fronts 72 feet on Broadway and is 190 
feet high. 

Trinity Church. — On the west side of Broadway, at 
the head of Wall street, is the most famous church 
edifice in the United States, Trinity Church, which, with 
its ancient graveyard, forms a wonderfully restful spot 
at the junction of the two greatest business arteries of 
New York, and, indeed, of the New World. No greater 
contrast can possibly be imagined than the sense of 
peace which overcomes one when entering Trinity 
Church after leaving the turmoil of Broadwjiy and Wall 
street. 



Jl 




TRINITY CHURCH. 



I 



S9 

History. — Trinity parish is of great historic interest, 
being the parent of tlie Episcopal Church, not only in 
New York, but of the United States. The first home of 
the Cliurch of England in America was in a little chapel 
near the Battery, which had been vacated for larger 
quarters by the Dutch church. In 16U7, under William 
and Mary, a grant was made under the title of the i'ar- 
ish of Trinity Church of a parcel of land described as 
" In or near to a street without the north gate of the 
city, commonly called Broadway." A further grant was 
made in 1705 of Queen Anne's farm, which lay along 
tlie North river, between what are now Vesey and 
Christo[)her streets. The present Trinity Church is tlie 
tiiird building of that name to stand on this site. The 
first structure was 148 feet long and 72 feet broad, with 
a steeple 175 feet high, and history says that it was or- 
namented beyond any other place of worship in the city. 
The first and second rectors were Mr. Vesey and the 
Rev. Heni-y Barclay, after whom res])ectively Vesey and 
Barclay streets are named. During Mr. Barclay's min- 
istry the church became too small to accommodate the 
congregation, and St. George's Chapel, which is now a 
distinct parish, was erected (p.l67). By 1768 a third 
church was needed, and St. Paul's was erected. 

When the Revolution broke out Trinity was strongly 
loyal. Dr. Auchmuty, the rector, having retired fi'om 
the city. Mr. Inglis, who officiated in his stead, persisted 
in praying for the king, and this even in the face of a 
band of 150 armed men, who, one Sunday morning, 
marclied into the church with loaded muskets, bayonets 
fixed, and drums and fifes playiny. The congregation 
was affrighted, but Mr. Inglis, notwithstanding the fact 
that he invoked the blessings of God upon "our most 
gracious sovereign. King George," was not molested. 
It was thought wise, however, to close the church, and it 
remained so until the Britisli army entered New York. 
A few days afterwards it burned down, with the rectory 
and the parish school. It was rebuilt in 1778, but the 
structure then erected being in 1830 adjudged unsafe, 
tlie erection of the present building was determined 
upon. This was completed in 18^6. 

Trinity Parish is commonly supposed to be an enor- 
mously wealthy institution, applications for charity fall- 



90 



ing upon it as if it had iiiiliniited pocket-money. As a 
matter of fact, however, it cannot be said to have more 
than enougli for its own support and tlie support of 
other churches and charities, many in number, depend- 
ent upon it. These about absorb its annual income, 
which reaches something like half a million dollars. 
Had the parish been able to foresee the wonderful rise 
in value of New York real estate and held on to all the 
land granted it, tlie wealth now at its disposal would be 
fabulous, but until it was confronted with the actual 
necessity of retrencliing it was almost recklessly gener- 
ous. Struggling sister churches and charities, educa- 
tional institutions, and even persons without the slightest 
claim to its bounty, received from it donations of land 
and money for the asking. 

The parish now contains seven chui'ches. These are 
the historic St. Paul's (p. 125), St. John's, in Varick 
street: St. Augustine, on East Houston street near the 
Bowery (p. 151); Trinity Chapel, Twenty-fifth street 
near Broadway; St. Chrysostom's, Seventh avenue and 
Twenty-ninth street; St. Agnes', buililing at Ninth 
avenue and Ninety-first street; and St. Cornelius's, on 
Governor's Island. Pews are free, with the exception of 
those in Trinity Chapel, and others in the older churches 
held by inheritance. 

For many years Trinity Church at the head of Wall 
street has been an object of veneration to the citizens of 
New York. A writer (VV. H. llideing, in the Century 
magazine) has well expressed these feelings in the fol- 
lowing words: "There are few persons, believers or 
infidels, who do not possess an affectionate interest in 
'Old Trinity.' Its history is, in a measure, the history 
of the city. For over two hundred years its worshippeis 
have included the most honored citizens, many of whom 
have gone from their seats in the naves to graves in tlie 
burial ground outside. It has survived many changes, 
many vicissitudes, and in meditative retrospect we see 
many pictures in the vista of its past. Tlie first build- 
ing was outside the upper gate of the city, and now the 
site is near the lower extremity. Under the King and 
under the Republic, it has existed for one purpose, and 
that is expressed when, above the noise of the traffic 
that plies around it, the chimes in its high steeple ring 



91 

out their melodious proclamations, lu this vicinity 
Broadway is crowded to excess. From early morning 
until late at niglit busy or careworn businessmen hasten 
past the church or pause to talk in its shadow; and the 
fine gothic pile of brown sandstone commemorating the 
generations associated with it can hardly fail to awaken 
a thought of more enduring tilings than the commerce 
which impels these eager merchants, bankers and 
brokers." 

Exterior and Interior. — Trinity Church building is 
considered one of the finest specimens of Gothic archi- 
tecture -in the city, and in spite of the many enormous 
structures devoted to secular purposes which have sprung 
up in its neighhorhood, it still remains the most inter- 
esting and most conspicuous building in the lower part 
of the city. It is open daily, and visitors are constantly 
entering and going out of the gate. Many of these 
visitors are strangers in the city, attracted simply by 
curiosity, but others leave their places of business or 
interrupt their walk for the purpose of spending a few 
moments in devotion in this venerable structure. Per- 
haps the contrast between the world outside and this 
sanctuary is all the greater for the fact that the turmoil 
of Broadway and Wall street is not entirely shut out, 
but is heard like the constant roar of a distant cataract. 
The groined roof is supported by rows of carved Gothic 
columns; daylight is warmed and toned by the richly 
stained windows by which it enters the interior, aiul the 
beautiful altar and reredos effectively end off the vista. 

The altar and reredos, memorials of the late William 
B. Astor, were erected by his sons. The altar is of pure 
white marble with shafts of red upon which are capitals 
carved in foliated designs. These shafts divide the 
front and sides into panels. The design of the central 
panel includes passion flowers, a Maltese cross in mosaic 
set with cameos, a Christ iiead, and symbols of the 
Evangelists. It is flanked by two kneeling angels. 



92 

Ears of wheat, also in mosaic, form the carvings of the 
other panels. The cornice is designed in grape vines 
inlaid with five crosses of red marble, and su])ports a 
white marble slab. The super altar is red Lisbon mar- 
ble, and on its face are the words "Holy ! Holy! Holy ! " 
in mosaic. On each side there is an extension forming 
a shelf along the whole length of the reredos, and 
designed for the reception of flowers at festivals. The 
reredos is of Caen stone carved in foliated designs, the 
whole being in perpendicular Gothic style. In the base 
are three square panels filled with colored mosaic con- 
ventional designs. Above the super altar seven panels 
of white marble sculptured in alto relievo show scenes in 
the life of Christ immediately preceding and subsequent 
to the Last Supper. Buttresses divide this reredos into 
three bays ; conspicuous on either are statuettes of 
the twelve apostles. The center piece represents the 
crucifixion, and at the points of the butti'esses stand 
seraphims playing tamliourines, lutes and timbrals. 
Behind the reredos is a large stained glass window with 
pictures of Christ and the a[)Ostles, 

The steeple and spire of Trinity Church are 284 feet 
high. The ascent of this steeple was formerly one of the 
usual incidents of a visit to New York, but strangers are 
no longer admitted unless they obtain a permit from the 
rector, whose office is in the building behind St. Paul's 
Church, corner of Vesey street, where he may be seen 
from 1 to 3 P. M. It may be said, however, that per- 
mits are granted only in special cases, and that, as a 
rule, applications for them would only be a waste of 
time. The view from this steeple is one of the finest to 
be had in the city. To the north one looks straight up 
Broadway to Grace Church. The crowds below are so 
small that they look like swarms of bugs rather than 
human l)eings, and horse cars and vehicles seem moving 
in opposite directions with a regularity almost resembling 
files of soldiers. Broadway is about the only street that 
can be distinguished in this direction. The city looks 
like a desert of house-tops, the monotonous line of which 
is broken only here and there by chimneys, wreaths of 
white smoke and spires. Looking toward the North 
river one sees right down upon the decks of sailing ves- 
sels and schooners, and across the river, beyond the 



9Ji 

heights behind Jersey City and Hoboken are the Orange 
Mountains and the Jersey Highlands. To the south is 
the glistening harbor with its emei'ald islands, the gate- 
way of the Narrows, and in the extreme distance Sandy 
Hook and the ocean. Eastward Wall street runs like a 
mere lane to the river, Brooklyn Heights rounding off 
the view. 

Mr. William Waldorf Astor is planning to erect as a 
memorial to his father, the second John Jacob Astor, a 
massive bronze gateway to the old church. The plan 
includes a massive pair of bronze doors to the front en- 
trance and swinging inward. These doors are to bear 
designs from sacred history and allegory, and to include 
the finest features of the famous Baptistry gates of 
Florence. 

TJie Oraveyard. — As interesting as the church itself, 
and possibly more interesting to strangers is the grave- 
yard in which it stands. Several headstones in this date 
back to the time of the first Trinity Church building. 
Around the walls of the church are sepulchures and 
vaults. The mo^t conspicuous monument near the 
entrance is that of Captain James Lawrence, U. S. N., 
which is near the south gate. 

This monument stands in a square plot of grass, sur- 
rounded by chains suspended from eight trophy cannon. 
It is in the form of a sarcophagus in brown stone, and is 
fittingly massive and effective. In the east end of the 
bier are carved an anchor and laurel wreath, and on the 
west end part of a sloop of war. On the north face of the 
pedestal is a laudatory, but unexaggerated inscription, 
which tells also the leading events in the hero's career. 

"In memory of Captahi James Lawrence of the United States 
Navy, who fell on the 1st clay of June, 1813, in the 32d year of his 
affe, in the action betw^een tlie frij?ates Chesapeake and" Sliannon. 
He was distin^inislied on various occasions, but especially wlien 
commandiiis" the sloop of war Hornet, he capture and sunk his 
Brittanick Majesty's sloop of war Peacock, after a desperate 
action of 14 minutes. His bravery in action was equalled only 
by his modesty in triumph, and his magnanimity to the van- 
quished. In private life he was a fj^entleman of the most gener- 
ous and endearing qualities. Tlic win ile nation mourned his loss, 
and the enemy contended with his countrymen who should most 
honor his remains." 



94 

The east face bears tlie followiiiy- inscription, referring 
to his last words, which have become ahnost a motto 
with the American navv : 

" The heroic commander of the frigate Chesapeake whose re- 
mains are here deposited, expressed with his expiring breath his 
devotion to his country. Neither the fury of battle, the anguish 
of a mortal wound, nor the licrrors of approacliiiig death could 
subdue his gallant spirit. His dying words were, ' Don't give 
up the ship.' " 

Captain Lawrence's widow and Lieut. Augustus C. 
Ludlow, who was his executive officer and fell with him, 
are buried with him beneath this memorial. 

On the south side of the cemetery, about half-way be- 
tween Broadway and New Church street, is the monu- 
men terected by the corporation of Trinity Church to 
the memory of Alexander Hamilton, a small obelisk on 
a broad pedestal and bearing the inscription : 

" The patriot of incorruptable integrity, the soldier of ap- 
proved valor, the statenian of consummate wisdom, whose 
talents and virtues will be admired by a grateful ijosterity long 
after tliis marble shall have molded into dust." 

At the foot of this memorial liis wife is buried. Near 
the southwest end of the church is the grave of Albert 
Gallatin, who was Secretary of the Treasury in 1801-1813, 
and near by is the grave of Phil. Kearney, who fell in 
1862, at Chantilly. Kearney, born in New York, June 
2, 1815, was a famous fighter. Alter graduating at the 
United States INIilitary Academy, he went to France and 
took part as a cavah-y officer in the Algerian war in 
1839-1840. In tlie Mexican war. after the battle of 
Churubusco, he pursued tlie fleeing enemy at the head of 
a company of dragoons into the city of Mexico itself. 
In cutting his way out again he was shot in the left arm, 
which had to be amputated. After this he rode 
into l);ittle with his bridle between his teeth, his sabre 
in Jiis right. In 1859. he again went to France, and 
served in the Frenr-h army in the war with Italy, leading 
several decisive charges. He was on a reconnoitering 
expedition wlien killed at Chantilly. 

At the Jiead of the first path on the northern ^-ide of 
the church, is the grave of William Bradford, the 
printer of the first news[)aper in New York, who died 
here on the 23d of May, 1752. The stone having become 
marred by age, it was restored with the original inscrip- 



95 

tioii by the vestry of Trinity Church in May, 1863. This 
inscription is worth quoting for its quaintness, in which 
particular it resembles many of the other old head-stones 
in the graveyard : 

" Reader, reflect liow soon you'll quit this stage ; 
You find but few attain t<> such an age. 
Life is full of pain : Lo ! Here's a Place of Rest, 
Prepare to meet your God, then you are blest." 

William Bradfoi-d was born in Leicester, England. 
He came to this country with William Penn in 1682. In 
1685 he set up at Philadelphia the first press south of 
New England, and the third in the colonies. In 1698, 
on account of political differences, he came to New 
York and set up here the first press in the province. On 
the 16th day of October, 1725, he began the issue of the 
New York Gazette, which was the first paper printed in 
the city. 

Diagonally across the path from Bradford's grave a 
plain slab suid<; in the sod marks the last resting-place 
of the ill-fated Charlotte Temple, a beautiful girl, who 
before the Revolution, eloped from England to this 
country with a British officer, and was here betrayed 
and deserted by him, dying insane and in bitter poverty. 
This is a place of i)ilgrimage for many people, and the 
grave is rarely without flowers, some cut, some growing 
in pot«, placed there by loving hands. 

In the northeast corner of the burying-ground is the 
large Gothic memorial to "Those brave and good men 
who died while imprisoned in this city for their devotion 
to the cause of American independence." This is direct- 
ly opposite the head of Pine street. It was erected at 
the time when it was feared that the city would continue 
the street through the graveyard, and its erection was 
regarded as a clever ruse on the part of the church cor- 
poration to prevent the extension of the street. The 
oldest headstone in the graveyard is a small brown stone 
in memory of Richard Churcher, bearing date 1681, and 
standing directly opposite Charlotte Temple's grave. 

Charities. — The wealth of Trinity Church is estimated 
at about $5,000,000, and, as has been stated, the income 
derived from this goes not only to the support of the 
parish and its missionary work, but also to that of some 
twenty sister church-^s. Large sums are annually paid 



96 

to the Episcopal funds of the diocese and to the dioce- 
san fund, and the expenses of the convention fall in a 
large measure on the vestry of Trinity Church. Numer- 
ous charitable societies are connected with the parish. 
A large school building stands back of the church on 
New Church street. Here there are both day and night 
classes. There is also an industrial school for the ex- 
clusive purpose of teaching young girls to sew. Trinity 
Church Association was formed in 1879 and incorporated 
in 1887 to carry on charitable work down-town. This 
association supervises and supports a mission house at 
209 and 211 Fulton street, in charge of the Sisters of St. 
Mary. This is the headquarters for work among the 
poor. Here are a dispensary, a kindergarten, a training 
school in household service for young girls, a relief 
bureau, a kitchen garden, and here also are given enter- 
tainments and lectures. The Association also maintains a 
seaside home for children at Great River, nearlsli}), L.I. 
The separate chapels of the i)arish have also iiumerous 
charitable societies. The jiarisli as a whole also main- 
tains a hospital where, during the year, au average of 
350 patients are treated. 



CHAPTER III. 



WALL STREET. 

Wall street runs along the line of outer fortifications, 
which in 1644 were erected as a defense against the In- 
dians, the Governor ordering at the time that a good 
solid fence be built across the island. For nine years 
this fence formed the northern boundary of a sheep 
pasture, a part of which was then granted to a number 
of influential citizens, who seem to have held the land 
for speculative purposes. In 1653 the wall was strength- 
ened, and a gate known as the " Land Gate " was built 
at the present junction of Wall street and Broadway, 
right in front of the site on wliich Trinity Church now 
stands. The first building of any note on tlie street was 
erected in 1656 on the spot now occupied by the Custom 
House. Lots ranged in price from |50 to $100. North 
of the street was an orchard, and there is an account of a 
bear hunt in it about this time. It is not improbable 
that an occasional bull may have strayed into the sheep 
pasture at the south, so that in tho-e days already Wall 
t?treet had its bears, bulls, and lambs. In 1769 the wall 
was finally demolished, and in 1700 the City Hall, the 
predecessor of the famous Federal Hall, was erected 
where the Sub-Treasury, facing Broad street, now 
stands. Opposite it, on the upper part of Broad street, 
was a cage, pillory, whipping-post and stocks, but not 
the kind of stocks that are now dealt in in this vicinity. 
In 1766 William Pitt was honored for having espoused 
the cause of the colonists by a marble statue at Wall and 
William streets. But during the British occupancy of 



08 

the city in ilie Uevolutioii, ilie statue was beheaded and 
otherwise disfigured, and in 1789 it was removed, and is 
now in the building of the New York Historical Society. 

On the north corner of Wall street and Broadway, is 
the United Bank Building, occupied by the First 
National Bank, known among financial circles as Fort 
Sherman, from the favor with which Senator Sherman, 
when Secretary of the Treasury, is said to have regarded 
it, the Bank ot the Republic and numerous offices. Be- 
tween tliis buikling and Nassau street on the north side 
of Wall, are the Schermerhorn and Astor buildings. On 
the opposite side of the street is the handsome Mortimer 
building, on the east corner of Wall and New streets. 
This is a structure of dark, buff brick, with an entrance 
in the form of a deep arch, through which a stone stair- 
way curves up to the first floor, an unusual architectural 
effect in the business quarters of the city. 

New York Stock Exchange. — Next to this is the 
narrow Wall street entrance to the Stock Exchange, 
tlie main fronts being on Broad and New streets; but of 
course it would have been absurd for the institution 
which rules and sometimes almost ruins the country 
financially, not to have an entrance on Wall street. 
Strangers gain admission to the visitors' gallery by this 
entrance. 

The first New Y'ork Stock Exchange was formed 
by seventy-four brokers, who in 1793 met under a 
button-wood tree in front of the present No. 6 ) Wall 
street. Until 1817 its business was chiefly transacted at 
the Tontine Coffee-house, at tlie corner of Wall and 
Water streets. From that time until 1865, when it 
moved into the present edifice, it had various meeting- 
places, among them a private office and an upper room 
in the Merchants' Exchange (on tlie site of the present 
Custom House). 

The present building was designed by James Renwick. 
Its greatest front is on New street, where it occupies 152 
feet. It also has a fi'ontage of 70 feet on Broad street, 
where the main entrance is. The part on Wall street is 



09 

really only an L, yet tlie Shock Exchange is always asso- 
ciated with Wall street. The best view of the building 
is obtained on Broad street. It is a substantial five- 
story white marble structure, witii the columns and up- 
per stories of colored granite built in the French 
Renaissance style, costing about $2,000,000, the title be- 
ing vested in the New York Stock Exchange Building 
Company. The annual expenses for wtar and salaries 
are about $200,000. 

Board Room. — That portion of the building which 
the stranger will want to see first is the Board Room, the 
financial nerve center of the country. The turmoil of 
this room must be heard to be appreciated — to describe 
it is impossible. It surpasses even the proverbial bear 
garden. Perhaps it is more like a tribe of Indians ex- 
ecuting a war dance than anything else. The transac- 
tions which take place in it are telegraphed all over the 
civilized world, and it is not exaggeration to say that 
the busiiif ss interests of the whole country throb in uni- 
son with it. A panic in Wall street means financial 
disaster throughout the United States. This Board 
Room is on the New street side of the ground floor, and 
is 200x98 feet. At 10 A. M. a gong strikes for the open- 
ing of business, at 2:15 P. M. for deliveries, at 3 P. M. 
for closing. Strangers are not admitted to the ground 
floor except as a matter of courtesy through a member, 
but an excellent view is had from the galleries on the 
second floor, which are reached from the Wall street 
entrance. Besides the Board Room, tliere are on the 
ground floor the Long Room for telegraph apparatus for 
subscribers at $100 a year, and the Reading Room. The 
click of the famous "tickers" running out their paper 
ribbons of quotations make music joyous or sad, accord- 
ing to tlie information which the ribbon conveys to the 
speculator who consults it. 

In the Board Room every stock has its special location, 
which is designated on a row of sign pillars running 
along the middle of the room from end to end. For 
purpose of communion with the outside world each 
broker is numbered and if he is wanted a knob bearing 
liis number is pulled, and instantly this number appears 
conspicuously in a space in front of the visitors' gallery. 
The room is electrically lighted from three chandeliers 



100 

and is admirably vontilated, Clocks announce both 
Washington and New York time. 

Since 1879 the limit of membership of tlie Exchange 
has been eleven hundred. Its government is vested 
in a Governing Committee of forty, in four classes, 
one of which retires every year, and in its President and 
Treasurer. The President serves gratuitously. The 
initiation fee is $20,000, or if membership is acquired by 
purchase of a seat, $1,000. The latter is the usual 
method. As high as $36,000 has been paid for a seat. 
No initiation fee was demanded under the button-wood 
tree in 1792. In 1823 it was $2o; in 1827, $100; in 1833, 
$150; in 1842, $350; in 1862, $3,000, aud in 1866, 
$10,000. The present rate was established in 1879. 

Brokers are of three classes — the first do a regular 
commission busines and never speculate; the second are 
the "scalpers," who buy with the intention of selling to 
other brokers at a rise; the third are the " traders," who 
confine their operations for a long period to a certain 
line of stocks or even to one particular stock. A divi- 
sion of "scalpers" are known as "guerrillas."' These 
deal in inactive stocks. Certain parts of tlie floor have, 
through guerrilla transactions, become kuown as "Hell's 
Kitchen" and "Robber's Roost." Members of the Ex- 
change in dealing with non-members are required to 
charge a commission of at least }^ of 1 per cent. Even 
offering to do business for less is punishable by expulsion 
and the sale of the offending member's seat. 

Exchange Slang. — The slang of the Exchange is a fit 
subject for a linguistic study, There are many terms 
besides those of "scalper," " guerrilla " and "trader," 
which have a special meaning on the floor of this iusti- 
tution, "bull" and "bear" being the most familiar. A 
" bull " is an operator who is " long of stock," i. e., who 
has "loaded" himself with a large number of stocks, 
bought perhaps in a large quantity at a time, and who 
expects to "unload " on a rising market. Naturally his 
tendency is to "bull the market," send up the prices of 
stocks. Sometimes he has to resort to fictitious measures 
such as "ballooning" — circulating rose-colored reports 
anent its value, making fictitious sales, etc., and may 
even be forced to " fly kites" — expand his credit injudi- 
ciously. If he operates so skillfully that he raises orde- 



101 

presses the stock at will he "milks the street." "Bears" 
are those who agree to deliver stock at a future date at a 
certain price, lower, of course, than its price at the time 
the contract is made. The bear's policy is to so depress 
the stock between the date of the contract and the date 
of the delivery that he can buy it at a lower price than 
that at which he is to deliver it, thus making the bal- 
ance. Hence, the " bear " is usually found "gunning a 
stock," for he is obliged to depress or " break" the mar- 
ket in order to " cover his shorts," i. e., buy in the stock 
he has to deliver at a figure low enough to yield him a 
profit or at least save him on the transaction. Some- 
times he is "cornered" by a "pool" or a combination 
of operators who are bulling the stock. The conflict be- 
tween bull and bear is irrepressible, and at any particu- 
lar time it is sim])ly a question as to whether the bull can 
toss the bear or the bear can get his arms around the 
bull's neck and squeeze him. 

U. S. Sub-Treasury. — The most interesting building 
on Wall street is undoubtedly the Sub-Treasury, and this 
not only because of the vast sums of money deposited 
there — at times $200,000,000 — but also because it occupies 
the site of the old Federal Hall, on the balcony of which 
Washington took the oath as the first President of the 
United States. It stands on the south corner of Wall 
and Nassau streets. 

History. — When in 1699 the old fortifications on Wall 
street were torn down, the stones from the bastions were 
appropriated to the building of the City Hall on this site. 
This became, of course, the center of political life in the 
city. It was not only a City Hall, but a Municipal and 
Colonial Court House, a jail and the Capitol of the prov- 
ince. Here tlie freedom of the American Press was 
established in 1735 at the trial of John Zenger; here in 
1765 the people of New York protested against the 
Stamp Act; here, July 18, 1776, the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence was read to the excited populace, and here for 
a time sat the Continental Congress and the old Congress 
after the Revolution. When Congress had selected New 
York City as the Capital of the Nation, the citizens 



100 

of Now York detonniiUMl to transfonn tlu'ii' City Hall 
into the moiv iiiUH^siiii:: Fodcral Hall. An aivliway 
throuijh tlio basonuMit fonin'il a proim-iiailo. KtMirlu'avy 
Tusoaji ooluiiuis supported the uraiul balcony, ami 
four hiiih Doric pillars ii jieiliineut on whicli were 
carved a jjreat American eaiile havinj:: thirteen arrows, 
tlie arms of the United States and other ornamental liu- 
ures. The furniture used hy this Conirress, and Wash- 
ington's desk and table may be seen at. the Governor's 
Koom in the City IImII (p. VM). 

]Vit,^/ii/ii/fo)i InaiiQurafioit. — Washinuton traveled to 
New York by way of Hallinu>re, \N'ilmiiiulon, Phihulel- 
phia, Trenton. New Brunswick and Kli/.abeth. From 
Elizabeth he was rowed, April ;2o, 1781), to New York in 
a superb barge by thirteen masters of vessels in white 
uniform with black caps ornamented with fringes. As 
the barge tlrew up to 3Iurray's wharf, near the foot of 
Wall street, cannon were fired and the bells of the city 
were rung. AVashingtou was esctu'ted by a procession 
con\posed of trtn^ps, the oI11c(M-s of the State and city, 
the clergy, the French and S[)anish embassadors and 
citizens to the Franklin llouse, which stood at the inter- 
section of Franklin square and Cherry street, then a 
lovely retreat, a strikingly pretty feature of whicli was a 
tine cherry orchard from which Cherry street derived 
its name. The ;>Oth of April, the day on whii'h he 
took the oath as the lirst Presiileut of the" United States. 
was ushered in by a discharge of cannon at sunrise at 
old Fort George near Bmvling Green. At half-past nine 
services were held at all the churches in the city. At 
noon the military jiaraded in front of the house on 
Cherry street, ami at half-past twelve marched to Federal 
Hall, where they were drawn up on either side of the 
street. Washington passing through the lines and pro- 
ceeding to the Senate Chamber. He was almost imme- 
diately conducted to the grand balcony in front of the 
Senate Chamber which looked out on Broad stieet. Near 
him stood Yice-President John Adams. Governor George 
Clinton. Chancellor Livingston. Roger Shernuin. Richard 
Henry Lee, Generals Henry Knox and Arthur St. Clair. 
Baron Steuben ami Samuel Otis, the Secretary of the 
S.'uate. In the center of the balcony was a table, the 
coverinsr of which was red velviM. On this lay a crimson 




\\'ASHI.\(/10.\ STA'l ( h 

(C. H. HfIi-TJ{KA8fi:V.> 



103 

velvet cushion and on tliis a large Bible. This Bible had 
been borrowed at the last moment of St. John's Lodge, 
No. 1, P. and A. M., it having been discovered just be- 
fore the oath was to be administered that there was no 
Bible in Federal Hall. Washington, with due solemnity, 
advanced to the front of the balcony, laid his hand on 
his heart, bowed several times, and retired to an arm 
chair near the table. When the universal shout of joy 
and welcome had subsided, and pro-found silence reignecl 
all about him, Washington arose and came forward. 
Chancellor Livingston read the oath, and Washington, 
resting his hand upon the table as he stood, repeated it. 
Mr. Otis then took the Bible and raised it. Washington 
stooped and kissed it. A^ he did so, a flag was raised 
upon the cupola of the Hall, and, as it was unfurled to 
the breeze, there was a discharge of artillery at the Bat- 
tery, the bells of the city rang out, and the multitude 
sent up a great shout. Washington bowed to the people 
and then retired into the Hall. In the Senate Chamber 
he then delivered his inaugural address, and afterwards, 
accomi)anied by the Vice-President, the Speaker, the 
two houses of Congress, and those who had been invited 
to the inauguration ceremony, proceeded to St. Paul's 
Church (p. 125) where a service of thanksgiving was 
conducted. The Washington Imiuguration Centennial 
celebration is too recent to require a detailed account. 
It lasted three days, beginning April 29, 1889, the prin- 
cipal ceremony taking place on the steps of the Sub- 
Treasury. 

The Statue of Washington which stands upon these 
steps was unveiled November 26, 1883. It is a bronze 
figure of colossal size by J. Q. A. Ward, and represents 
Washington taking the oath. It was erected by volun- 
tary subscription under the auspices of the Chamber of 
Commerce of the State of New York. Sunk in the 
pedestal in front of the figure is a large brown stone 
slab bearing the following inscription: "Standing on 
this stone in the balcony of Federal Hall, April 30th, 
1779, George Washington took the oath as the first 
President of the United States of America." 

Present Building. — After the seat of government of 
the United States was removed to Philadelphia, Federal 



104 

Hall was occupied by the State Assembly and the Courts. 
In 1813 it was taken down and the buildings erected on 
its site gave way in 1842 to the old Custom House,whicli 
is now tiie Sub-Treasury. This is a large, light granite 
building, in Doric style, extending from Wall to Pine 
street. Ou the Wall street front eighteen granite steps 
extending the entire breadth of the building lead to a 
dignified portico supported by eight marble columns. 
Within is a rotunda of sixty feet diameter, sixteen Cor- 
inthian columns, fifteen o£ which are monoliths, sup- 
porting the dome, a gallery running around the rotunda. 
On the floor are ranged tlie desks of the various depart- 
ments of the Sub-Treasury. This branch of the Treasury 
department has been here since 1862, when the Custom 
House was removed to the building on the south side 
further down the street which it now occupies. 

Transactions. — This institution received dui-ing the 
last fiscal year $1,157,931,582.23, and paid out $1,130,- 
598,102.68. Its receipts come from the Custom House, 
the Post Offices of this district, and from the Treasury 
Department for disbursing officers, such as army and 
navy paymasters, and for pensions. Its disbursements 
were made up largely of Treasury drafts, money paid out 
to disbursing officers, the redemption of United States 
bonds, the payment of coupons and interest on bonds, and 
the redemption of mutilated currency. It will redeem 
any piece of paper money which is not mutilated more 
than two-fifths. If mutilated to a greater extent, the 
request for redemption has to be accompanied by an 
affidavit explaining tiie manner in which the mutilation 
occurred. The extent to which mutilated money is re- 
deemed through this agency is shown by the following 
statistics for one year : Gold certificates, $49,141,000; 
silver certificates, $15,983,000; United States notes, 
$20,345,000 ; National Bank notes, $2,812,000 : frac- 
tional notes, relics of war days still in circulation, $1,500. 
It may be said of this institution in a general way that 
it transacts two-thirds of the fiiuincial afT.nrs of the 
United States Government. Some 375,000 pension 



I 



105 

checks are paid ou4 in this office each quarter, making 
about 70 per cent, of the entire pension list of the 
United States. The largest single check ever drawn 
in the office was one for $30,000,000, and it is offset 
by the smallest single transaction, which was for one 
cent. 

Gold Vaults. — The vaults in wliich the gold and gold 
certificates are stored are on the floor of the rotunda on 
the north side, respectively to the left and right of the 
passage-way, and are well lighted, and cheerfully car- 
peted; quite different from the vaulted and gloomy re- 
cesses which one would naturally expect to enter. But, 
however cheerful they are, they are as secure as if they 
were the darkest of dungeons, being separated from the 
rotunda by four huge, heavy doors with the most modern 
lock appliances. The vault in which gold exclusively is 
kept is to the left of the passage-way. It is fitted up 
with one hundred and thirty closets, each holding one 
hundred bags, each bag containing $5,000 in gold coin, 
so that each closet contains half a million dollars. 
There has been as much as $64,000,000 stored in this 
vault at .one time. The other vault is used not only 
for the storage of gold coin, but also for the storage 
of gold certificates. These are done up in packages of 
one hundred notes, and ten of these packages go into a 
bundle, so that each bundle contains one thousand notes. 
At the time when the author visited this vault he was 
allowed to hold in his liand a package containing 
$10,000,000 in gold certificates. It was made up of one 
thousand $10,000 certificates, and the package repre- 
sented the smallest space into which that amount of 
money could be compressed. It was the length of an 
ordinary bill, and about four inches in thickness. It 
was almost as light as a feather, but represented a weight 
in coin of IS^^ tons. There are, besides these two large 
vaults on either side of the passage, a small vault for the 
reception of nickels and pennies. 

Coin Division.— 'Passmg out of the rotunda toward 
Pine street, there is on the riglit-hand side of the build- 
ing the coin division. Here business houses and corpor- 
ations requiring large sums of money in small change 
receive this in exchange for coins and bills of larger de- 
nominations. Retail firms during the Christmas season 



106 

will draw at one time |10,000 in pennies. The Manhat- 
tan Elevated Railroad, on the other hand, which receives 
large quantities of small coin, exchanges this three times 
a week for large bills. At the time of deposit a certificate 
is given, then the coin deposit is carefully examined, 
and whatever is light-weight, mutilated or counterfeit 
is thrown out and charged against the depositor. Coun- 
terfeits are, before they are returned, so effectually 
marred that they cannot be passed upon unsuspecting 
persons. It is learned from the experience of this de- 
partment that counterfeiting is carried on to an extraor- 
dinary extent. A favorite method is to dig out the 
metal fi"om between the two faces of the coin, and then 
fill it up with metal of about the same weight. Even 
one cent pieces are counterfeited, and there is a counter- 
feit penny in circulation upon which is stamped "Not 
one cent." Of course the experts who receive the coin at 
the Sub-Treasury can determine at the first touch, in 
nearly every instance, that a coin is a counterfeit, and 
there are also expert counterfeit detectives among the 
men who handle paper money. 

In the upper story is an armory, where various 
weapons are kept in readiness for an attack in case of 
riot. The shutters are of steel and the building is forti- 
fied in various ingenious ways, not only on all sides, but 
on the roof, to ward off an attack from the adjoining 
buildings which are higher than the Sub-Treasury. The 
system of defense is naturally kept secret. 

The silver vault is in the basement in the northwest 
corner of the building. Here the silver is stacked up in 
bags like bags of salt. The bulk is in dollars. The 
smallest silver coin now in circulation is the dime. A 
few half -dunes and three-cent pieces are occasionally 
presented, but these are retired as rapidly as they are 
received, i\s are also the two-cent copper pieces. A thou- 
sand dollars' woi-th of coin is packed in each bag. There 
has been about $38,000,000 worth of silver in this vault 
at a time. The silver is shipped in large quantities to the 
South, when tiie cotton crop is being picked, as the 
negroes prefer the bright coin dollars to the paper dollar. 
The general public is not admitted to a detailed inspec- 
tion of the Sub-Treasury, but applications made to the 
Sub-Treasurer will receive consideration. 



107 

U. S. Assay Office. — Adjoining the Sub-Treasury is 
the United States Assay Office, a marble building in 
classic style, erected 1823, for a branch of the United 
States Bank. It is the oldest structure on Wall street. 
It is a branch of the United States Mint, and everything 
is done here which is done at the Mint, except coining. 
Domestic bullion, domestic coin which is uncurrent on 
account of mutilation or light weight, foreign bullion, 
foreign coin, jewelers' bars, watch-cases, old plate, the 
latter class of articles often from " fences " (receivers of 
stolen goods), are brought here to be melted up and cast 
into bricks. 

Operations. — the operations of the Assay Office during 
the last fiscal year are represented by the following sta- 
tistics: There was deposited, in gold, bullion to the 
value of $16,365,923.27, partings $1,443,136.61; in un- 
current coins of the United States, $417,000; in foreign 
coins, $1,117,659.06; in silver, bullion to tiie amount of 
$4,166,044.17, partings $92,941.62; in coins, $3,001.05. 
The woi'k of the assay department of this institution 
comprised the testing of some 10,000 melts of gold and 
silver, besides numy other melts of the fine metals, and 
the testing of some four hundred barrels of sweeps, and 
many hundreds of special assays. Sweeps are obtained 
from the retorts, cloths, strainers, brushes, brooms, 
dusters, and other articles which are apt to catch silver 
or gold dust, or to become in any way impregnated with 
the precious metals used in the Assay Office. These are 
ground up, placed in barrels, and assays from each 
bai-rel made so as to determine its general value. The 
barrels are then put up at auction and sold to the highest 
bidder, a report of the assays being first made to the 
bidders. 

In the melting and refining department there were 
refined last year by acid 2,232,101 gross ounces. There 
were prepared and delivered to the superintendent 
18,234 bars of gold and 25,993 bars of silver, a total of 
44,227 bars; and 1,104,255 pounds of sulphuric acid were 
used in the parting oj^erations, and 1,592,545 pounds of 
spent acid ^nd 129,913 pounds of blue vitriol were sold 



108 

during the yeai', realizing $9,015.08. Sixty-one thou- 
sand ounces of silver from the acid refinery were used 
over in parting gold deposits. 

The melter and refiner operated during the year on 
970,793 standard ounces of gold and returned a surplus 
of 416,394 standard ounces. The same officer operated 
on 4,294,094 standard ounces of silver and returned an 
excess of 5,021.30 standard ounces. The bars of precious 
metal refined here are sold largely to manufacturing 
jewelers, are sent to tiie mints for coinage, and are also 
used as exchange when tlie rate of exchange reaches 
what is known in financial circles as the shipping point. 

Vaults. — In the vaults of the Assay Office millions of 
dollars' worth of gold and silver is piled up in bricks of 
various sizes ranging in value from $100 to $8,000. 
The gold vault, on the ground floor of the building on 
the Wall street side, is a little room, and yet it will hold 
$70,000,000 worth of gold. 

Refining. — The most interesting operation to the visi- 
tor is undoubtedly the refining department on the Pine 
street side of the building. The bullion being received 
on the ground floor, is here granulated by being melted 
in crucibles and then thrown into water. Having been 
granulated, it is sent up to the acid-room on the top 
floor, where it is boiled seven times in sulphuric acid. 
This eliminates the silver from the gold, leaving the 
gold in a dirt colored powder in a filter-box, but a box 
of this dirt is worth about $100,000. The powder hav- 
ing been thoroughly washed, is placed into a press, and, 
under a pressure of two hundred tons, the moisture is 
squeezed out of it, and the powder assumes the form of 
a round cake. It is then ready to be refined. Silver 
undergoes a more complicated treatment. Having been 
boiled in sulphuric acid and eliminated from the gold, 
it runs down in a liquid form as sulphate of silver 
through pipes to the story below, where it is received 
into vats lined with copper plates. These copper plates 
separate the silver in the form of a gray powder, leaving 
sulphate of copper in the vats which flows down into 
the floor below where it is crystajized on copper plates. 
IMie silver powder is treated like the gold in the press, 
and is then ready to be melted. The crystalizecl sul- 
phate of copper is sold. The melting furnaces are on 



109 

the same floor on which the granulation takes place. 
The cakes are thrown into large black lead crucibles, 
which are placed in furnaces. When the metal is 
sizzling and bubbling in the crucible, a thick covering 
of bone ash is spread over it, and through a little hole 
made in this bone ash nitre is poured on the molten 
metal. The nitre draws up the copper impurities which 
form a slag with the bone a?h. This is removed from 
time to time, and the process repeated for about three 
hours. When the metal is refined, it is dipped out in 
ladles, and poured into forms from which it is lifted as 
red-hot bricks of gold and silver and placed upon tables 
to cool. Tiie glow of a red-hot gold brick is something 
which possesses a glory all its own, being like the gor- 
geous golden hue of a sunset sky. 

AHsaijing. — The process of assaying is somewhat more 
complicated, and is not as readily understood as the 
simpler process of refining. All bullion, whether it is 
simply for assay, or for refining purposes, is received in a 
room on the ground floor on the Wall street side of the 
building. Here it is weighed and receipted foi'. It is 
then run into bars, "pig" gold and '"pig" silver one 
might call them, from which delicate slips are taken. 
These slips are sent up to the assay department, which 
occupies the upper stories on the Wall street front of the 
building, and here delicate portions are weighed out on 
scales which will weigh the i-q^q part of a drachm. 
They are wrapped up in a thin strip of pure lead shaped 
somewhat like a cornucojua and technically called cor- 
nets, and put in little calcined bone cupels. These are 
then deposited in gas cupel furnaces and as the lead 
melts the base metals are carried with it into the bone of 
the cupel or are oxidized, leaving a button of pure gold 
and silver in the bottom. This is then weighed, aiutthe 
loss shows the amount of base metal contained in the 
original. The button is then rolled out into a thin strip 
which is boiled in nitric acid, the acid eating out the 
silver and leaving the pure gold. The iiest time to visit 
the Assay Oifice is about 10.80-A. M., when the refining 
is most apt to be in progress. 

The Sub-Treasury stands opposite Broad street, one of 
the main arteries of business runniiiy: into Wall street. 
Originally the ground here was mar.-hy, and a brook ran 



110 

from the marsh through the middle of Broad street to 
the river. In 1657 the sides of this brook were lined 
with plank so that it might better serve its purpose as an 
open drain. The marsh ended at Exchange Place, 
which is one block below Wall street, and the ground 
between the end of the swamp and Wall street itself was a 
sheep pasture, so that sheep were sheared in this part of 
New York long before the Stock Exchange was estab- 
lished here. In 1676 the marsh and the ditch were 
filled np, and the street made level. The corners of 
Wall and Broad streets are considered among the most 
valuable pai'cels of real estate in the City of New York. 
The north corner is occupied by the Wilks Building, 
sufficiently imposing to make it worthy of its costly 
site. Next to it stands the Broad street front of the 
Stock Exchange, and beyond this a branch of Del- 
monico's. The eastern corner is occupied by the Drexel 
Building, a white marble six-story building in the 
Renaissance style, and built for the l)anking firm of 
Drexel, Morgan & Co. The superb brick structure ad- 
joining it on Broad street, occupying a frontage of 175 
feet and ten stories high, is the Mills Building. This 
has an L opening on Wall street, where the building oc- 
cupies a frontage of 25 feet. On busy days the elevtitoi's 
in this building have carried as many as 17.000 passen- 
gers. The view down Broad street from the coi-ner of 
Nassau is gracefully ended off by the distant campanile 
of the Produce Exchange. 

Exchange Place, which runs from Broadway to Han- 
over street, crossing Broad street, is interesting, because 
in the old days a bridge crossed the ditch at Broad 
street at this point, and on this bridge the first Mer- 
chants' Exchange was organized, March 24, 1670; its 
member!^ meeting on the bridge every Friday morning 
at 11 O'clock. The small boys of the vicinity liaving 
been accustomed to coast in winter down the hill from 
the country road which is now Broadway, to the sheep 
pasture, which is now Broad street, they were ordered 
by the Mayor to suspend their sport on Fridays, between 
11 and 12, so as not to disturb the deliberations of the 
Exchange. The Long Island Ferry once started from 
this bridge at Exchange place, the skiff proceeding down 
the ditch through Broad street into the river, the ferry 



Ill 

house standing at the present corner of New street and 
Exchange Place. Nassau street is a narrow thorough- 
fare leading from Wall street to City Hall Park. It 
follows the line of an old lane, which, when a petition 
for the opening of the street was presented in the early- 
days of the city, was quaintly described as a "cart lane 
running by the \)\e woman's to the Connnons," City Hall 
Park then being the common pasture of the town. This 
is now the great thoroughfare for lawyers on their way 
from this part of the city to the Court House in City 
Hall Park, and here are the stores of law-book publishers 
and secondhand book dealers, and it is also occupied by 
numerous handsome office buildiup's. 

Proceeding down Wall street, from Nassau, the next 
building to attract attention is that of the Mechanics 
Bank at Nos. 31 and 88, built of granite and Indiana 
limestone and presenting an imposing front of nine 
stories. Conspicuous on this front is a bronze casting of 
a mechanic's brawny arm and iiand wielding a hammer. 
The bank acquired this property in the last century and 
the deeds to it are said to run back to the days of (^ueen 
Anne. Another conspicuous building housing one of 
the historic banks of the country, the Bank of the jNlan- 
hattan Company is the nine story granite structure built 
conjointly by the bank just named, and the Merchants' 
Bank at Nos. 40 and 42 Wall street. One of its finest 
features is the grand entrance arch. The 3IanJiattan 
Company''s Bcmk was organized by Aaron Burr in op- 
position to the Bank of New York, one of whose found- 
ers was his bitter political rival, Alexander Hamilton. 
Its banking privilege was secured by clever ruse. Just 
after the yellow fever scourge in New York, when it was 
thought that the ei)idemic might have been caused by 
the brackish water in tiie wells which tlien furnished the 
only water supply to the city, Burr obtained a charter 
for a water company with !|;2, 000,000 of ca))ital, but in 
this charter there was a clause permitting the company 
to use its surplus cai)ital in any way not inconsistent 
with the laws and constitution of the United States or of 
the State of New York. This clause was utilized in a 
manner which the Legislature granting the charter little 
dreamed of, for it led to the incorporation of the Man- 
hattan Company's Bank in 1799. The Manhattan Com- 



112 

pany did, as a malter of fad, eonstriR't water-works and 
for some time sii[)i)lied the city with water, and it still, 
in order to retain its charter, maintains in a buikling on 
Centre street a huge tank. Opposite the building of the 
Ma!ihattan Company is the nine story building of the 
United States Trust Company, Nos. 45 and 47 Wall 
street. It is built of granite varied with brownstone, the 
carving on which is as delicate as lace-work. On the 
northwest corner of Wall and William streets is tiie 
handsome building of the Bank of America, while the 
Bank of New York, the oldest bank in the State and the 
second bank organized in the United States, occupies a 
fine building on the northeast corner. This is the bank 
founded by Alexander Hamilton, which Burr sougiit to 
antagonize when he incorporated the Manhattan Com- 
pany's Bank. The Bank of Xew York commenced busi- 
ness on the 9th of June, 1784, being then located in the 
Walton mansion on Franklin square, at loG Pearl 
street, about opposite the sti'ucture now occupied by 
Harper Bros. (p. 141). In 1787 the bank removed to No. 
11 Hanover square, and in 1798 to the site it now oc- 
cupies. The Walton house remained standing until 
1881, having fallen, however, upon sorry times, being 
last occupied as a lodging house for immigrants. The 
Bank of New York was formally incorporated in 1791, 
re-organized under the Free Banking Act in 1852, and 
in July, 1879, became a national bank. 

Proceeding down William street to the south, the 
visitor will reach, near the corner of Beaver street on 
the east side, the handsome building of the Farmers' 
Loan and Trust Company, and adjoining it, on the cor- 
ner of William street and Hanover square, the yellow 
brick structure of the Cotton Exchange. This Exchange 
was organized August 15, 1870, and occupied, until May 
4, 1872, premises at 142 Pearl street, from that time to 
April 29, 1885, premises in Hanover square, and moved 
into the present building A{)ril 30, 1885. It is calcula- 
ted that the cotton crop of the United States is nearlv 
6,940,000 bales or nearly 3,440,410,000 pounds. For tiie 
year ending May 1, 1890, the sales of spot cotton on the 
Exchange aggregated 31 5, 443 bales, andf or future delivery 
21 ,084,100 bales. Diagonally across the street is the new 
Delmonico building, ()ccu[>yiMg the site of the first 



113 

restaurant establi.slied by this famous house. Returning 
lo Wall street, the next object of interest is the United 
States Custom House. 

United States Custom House. — This occupies the 
entire block bounded by Wall, William, Hanover streets 
and Exchange Place, and is connected by a bridge with 
another building on the southern side of Exchange 
Place, where the Naval Officer has his headquarters. 
The Custom House building is of Quincy granite, in 
Doric style, with a portico of granite columns, each 38 
feet high and 4^ feet in diameter. Its main entrance is 
on Wall street, and leads into a fine rotunda with a dome 
supported by 8 pilasters of marble. The building was 
originally constructed for a Merchants' Exchange, but 
when the Sub-Treasury was established in 1862, it was 
|)urchased by the National Government for customs 
purposes. It may be said without exaggeration that 
every man, woman and child in the United States is 
affected by the business transactions of this, the princi- 
pal Custom House of the country, for there duties are 
collected on wearing apparel, articles of ornament, 
house furnishings, food and drink, all of which cost 
more because the United States Government levies duty 
upon them. 

The New York Custom House has less proportion of 
expense to the amount of duties collected tluin any other 
in the land, and is an enormously i)rofitable institution 
to the Government. Its receipts in 1889 were |lo4,831,- 
162.38; its expenses only $2,800,000. Altogether there 
were 275,000 entries for merchandise, and the record of 
vessels entered was as follows: From foreign ports, 
5,557, and from domestic ports, 2,477; while there cleared 
for foreign ports, 4,948, and for domestic ports, 2,773. 
The mode of passing goods through the Custom House 
is very complicated, and requires for its proper supervi- 
sion the division of the customs service into several 
branches, at tiie head of which is the Collector of the 



114 

Port. All the work done in the Collector's office io then 
verified by the Naval office. The employees number 
about 1,700 people, including several female inspectors, 
whose business it is to prevent women from smuggling 
articles through the customs in tlieir clothing apparel. 
The inspectors have their headquarters at the Barge 
Office, wiiich has already been described (p, 78). The 
routine through which a passenger's baggage must pass 
before a passenger can take it or have it removed from 
the port has already been explained (p, 29). 

The unloading and delivery of goods from the vessels 
at the wharf involves more circumstance. Tlie captain 
proceeds to the Custom House and delivers the manifest 
of his cargo and other papers to the Collector, tliis being 
technically described as an " entry " of the vessel. Un- 
til this and other incidental acts are performed by him. 
the cargo of the vessel can not be touched. When all 
])relirainary steps have been taken and bulk is broken, 
the goods are passed from the vessel to the dock under 
the supervision of two inspectors, who see to it that 
samples of the goods are sent for appraisement to the 
Public Stores, and also that the regulations of the customs 
are otherwise complied with. When the goods at the 
Public Stores have been examined and appraised, the 
consignee is notified of the amount of duty payable. He 
will already have paid duties on the face of the invoice, 
but the result of the appraisement ]nay be to either lower 
or increase these, in which case part of his payment is 
refunded, or he is obliged to make an additional pay- 
ment. The process is, of course, much more complicated 
than this, so complicated in fact that merchants usually 
employ Custom House brokers to transact this branch 
of their business, but the above is about the simplest 
way of describing the method. 

Opposite the Custom House, onHanover andWall streets, 
is the old banking firm of Brown Bros. & Co., and not 
far below is the building of the Queen Insurance Com- 
pany, conspicuous for its fine porch, an architectural 
feature seldom found in New York office buildings. The 
Elevated Railroad crosses Wall street at Pearl street. 
Pearl streel, it will be remembered by those who have 
followed the itinerary of this guide, begins at State 
street, and therefore has swept around in a semi-circle to 



115 

this point, aucl from here on it makes another sweep 
joining Broadway above Reade street, running a semi- 
circular course. Its peculiar line is due to the fact that 
it was built up along an old cow-path which ran from 
the old fort along the outlying settlements to the com- 
mon pasture which is now City Hall Park. At the foot 
of Wall street is a ferry to Brooklyn, having its Brook- 
lyn landing at the foot of Montague street. 



CHAPTER IV. 

WALL STREET TO CITY HALL PARK. 

Broadway above Wall street to City Hall Park is still 
a succession of large buildings. At No. Ill Broadway, 
opposite Pine street, is the Trinity Building, whose 
southern windows look out on the old churchyard. The 
block above this on the same side is occupied by the 
Boreel .Building, 115 Broadway, the site of the old 
De Lancey mansion, where the Washington Inaugura- 
tion Ball took place, and which was subsequently oc- 
cupied by the City Hotel, a famous hostelry in its day. 
Pine street, which runs into Broadway at the head of 
Trinity cemetery, is a narrow thoroughfare lined on 
either side with office buildings. 

Equitable Building. — Between Pine and Cedar 
streets, on the east side of Broadway, stands the building 
of the Equitable Life Assurance Society, which houses 
3,500 tenants, and through which pass more than 30,000 
people a day. Almost every kind of business capable of 
being transacted in offices is represented in this building. 
It is a granite structure in classic style, a certain large 
effect being introduced by an architectural device in 
giving two stories the external appearance of one very 
high story. The present structure was built in 1885, 
the company at that time acquiring the whole block on 
Broadway, and a large portion of the block on Nassau 
street. The entrance is a massive coffered granite 
Roman arch, leading into a double vestibule with 
j)ilasters of yellow marble with capitals of Mexican onyx 
and lintels of Knoxville marble, ceiled with polished 
marble and bronze friezes. The arcade beyond is 30 feet 
broad by over 100 feet long, with a great arched skylight 
of stained glass and polished marble, the walls being 
lined like the vestibule. In the tympanum of the arch 



117 

at the end of the main corridor is a mosaic by F. 
Lathrop, representing the tutelary significance of life 
itisiiraiice. In the corner of the building at Broadway 
and Pjne street is the Cafe Savarin, and back of this 
across the hall, the restaurant of the same name. The 
Mercantile Trust Company, several banks, and the well- 
known banking firms of Winslow, Lanier & Co., August 
Belmont & Co., and Kountze Bros. & Co., occupy the 
first floor. A large portion of tlie fifth and sixth floors 
is reserved for the Lawyers' Clul) and a fine law library, 
the building being a great headcpiarters for lawyers. 

A portion of the tower is used by the U. S. Signal 
Service, and it is from this point that New Yorkers as- 
certain why they are either freezing or sweltering. 
Here the famous humidity statistics originate. This 
tower, however, is used cliicfly for the office of the Signal 
Service, the various instruments for measuring the baro- 
metric and atmosplieric pressure, for determining the 
temi)erature, the direction of the wind, the velocity of 
the wind, and the amount of rain-fall being exposed on 
an iron tower built up from the roof and consideraV)ly 
higher than the Broadway tower, to the office in which, 
however, the records are automatically transmitted. In 
this office is a small printing outfit for printing signal 
office charts, made up from reports and observations 
received from all over the country at 8 A. M. and 8 
P. 1\[. On a flagstaff attached to the Broadway tower 
weather signals are raised, warning mariners against cold 
waves and storms — flags by day and lanterns by night. 
The highest temperature reported from this office was 
100 degrees on June 6, 1881 ; the lowest, 6 degrees be- 
low zero Jan. 10, 1875. The wind attained its great- 
est velocity, 72 miles, on Dec. 81, 1880. The tower 
roof is no longer accessible to the public, but it is inter- 
esting to stroll around the roof of the main building and 
observe the nund^er of superstructures upon it, which 
form a little village all by tiiemselves. The view, how- 
ever, is much cut oft' by tall buildings. 

Passing out of the Ef|uital)le Building, on the Nassau 
street side, and proceeding to the corner of Cedar street, 
the fine building of the Miifnal Life Insurcmee Cow- 
pany (C. Clinton, architect), occupying the block 
between Cedar and Liberty streets, and one of the finest 



118 

speciments of Italian Renaissance in the city, is seen. 
Its most impressive feature is a portico two stories 
high, the capitals of the polished granite columns on the 
second story being carved heads emblematic of America, 
Europe, Asia, and Africa. This building stands upon 
an historic site, that of the old Middle Dutch Church 
(p. 123), which, during the Revolution, was occupied as 
a riding-school by the British calvary, and also as a 
])rison. Subsequently it passed into the possession of 
the United States, and was occupied as a post-oiUce 
until the present Federal building on Broadway and 
Park row was erected. Tiie Chmnber of Commerce of the 
State of New York occupies quarters in this building. It 
collects and publishes annually valuable statistics relating 
to the commerce of the State and city. Being composed 
of leading men in commercial and financial circles it 
exerts considerable influence upon legislation. The 
walls of its spacious headquarters are hung with the 
portraits of many of its distinguished members. Four 
of the portraits were painted for or purchased by the 
Chamber. These are of Cadwallader Colden, Lieuten- 
ant-Governor of the Colony, painted 1772, by Matthew 
Pratt; Alexander Hamilton and De Witt Clinton, by 
Trumbull; and of John Sherman, by Huntington — the 
last in honor of the resumption of specie payments 
effected by Sherman while Secretary of the Treasury. 
The Chamber was instituted April 5, 1768, at Fraunces' 
Tavern, and has an unbroken record of the minutes of 
every meeting from that date down. 

Passing up Nassau street to Liberty street and through 
Liberty street to Broadway, there stands on the north 
side of Liberty street. No. 57, the Meal Estate Exchange, 
the object of which is to facilitate the sale and transfer 
of real estate, primarily in the City of New York, but 
furthermc^ro, also, throughout the United States. For- 
merly the }»ublic sales of real estate were effected in the 
basement of Trinity Building at 111 Broadway. The 
present Exchange was oj>ened on the 14th of April, 1885. 
All sales of land in New Yoi'k City under decrees, orders 
or judgments have to be made in the rooms of this Ex- 
change. The Buildhig Material Exchange occupies 
quarters in the rear part of the auction room. The 
Exchange keeps books in wjiich it registers, for a fee of 



119 

five dollars, property within the city limits, and even 
considerable property without the city boundaries offered 
for sale. It has, also, valuable records, and offers its 
members other privileges. The first private deed on 
record in New York City is a conveyance of a lot 30 x 
110 feet on Bridge street, between Whitehall and Broad 
streets, for twenty-four guilders, wiiich is al)out $9.50 in 
our money. Auction sales of real estate on the Exchange 
last year amounted to |44,083,763. 

Leaving the Exchange and proceeding to and up 
Broadway, the next street is 31aiden Lane. This was 
once a country lane crossing the island along a stream 
with marshy shores, and it was called the Maiden's 
Path, T'Maagde Paatje in the original Dutch, because 
washwomen jilied their occupation along' the banks of 
the stream. Here, also, the tanners once had their pits. 
The street entering Broa'lway opposite is Cortlandt 
street, named after the old Van Cortlandt farm, part of 
which was appropriated for opening the street. On the 
southeast corner of Cortlandt and New Church streets 
stands the large building of the Coal and Iron Exchange, 
and on the north side of the street, not far from Broad- 
way, is the Telephone Building. 

Western Union Building — The next street entering 
into Broadway on its west side is Dey street. Here 
stands one of the most conspicuous buildings in the 
city, housing one of the greatest corporations in the 
United States, the Western Uniori Telegraph Company. 
When this company began operations in 1856, it had 
37,318 miles of poles and cables, 75,686 miles of wire, 
and 2,250 offices. The statistics for messages, receipts, 
expenses and profits do not exist for this year, but in the 
following year the company liandled 5,879,282 messages, 
its receipts were $0,558,925.36, and its profits $2,624,- 
919.73. The average toll for a message was a little over 
$1.04. The marvelous increase in the company's busi- 
ness, and the manner in which it, itself, has grown with 
its growth of business, is cleai'ly shown by the statistics 
for 1890. It had 678.997 miles of wire. Its offices num- 
bered 19,382. It handled 55.878,762 messages. Its 
receipts were $22,387,027.91. Its profits were $7,312- 
725.10, and the average cost for a message had fallen 
from a little over $1.04 to a little over 32 cents. In this 



120 

Iniilding is tlie nerve-center of the network of wire 
which stretches all over this country, and runs along the 
bottom of the sea to nearly all civilized countries of the 
globe ; and one can sit in this building and by simply 
touching a knob communicate with every place in the 
world where there is a telegraph station. In July, 1890, 
the upper stories of the Western Union Building were de- 
stroyed by fire. The building, remodeled by J. H. Ilarden- 
bergh, occupies a frontage of 75 feet on Broadway, and 
inclmling an adjoining building, runs 200 feet on Dey 
street. The Broadway building is nine stories high, and 
is built of brick with terra cotta trinnnings. The prin- 
cipal feature of the Broadway front are three wide arches 
on piers which extend through two stories, and are 
crowned with capitals. There are seven arches on the 
Dey street front, and the top story is formed by an 
arcade of arched openings, the whole being surrounded 
by a heavy cornice of terra cotta. The adjoining build- 
ing on Dey street is of the same general character and 
design, but the structure is ten stories high. The seventh 
and eighth stories, communicating with those of the 
Broadway building, form immense operating rooms 75 
X 100 feet, fitted up with the most improved apparatus. 
There are employed in all departments in these build- 
ings about 1,200 people; over 2,000 wires center in the 
operating room; 100,000 messages are handled, on t'le 
average, in the operating room every day. There are 
175 branch ofRces in the city. From this building tele- 
graphic communication can be had with any part of the 
world. The company's own submarine cables, which lie 
at Whitesand Bay, Devon, England, and at Coney 
Island, N. Y., with land wires in England, and under- 
ground and aerial cables across Long Island and the 
Brooklyn Bridge at this end, give a direct connection with 
London. Thence messages are transmitted, either by 
the various government systems or submarine cable com- 
panies, or by both, to all parts of Europe, Asia, Africa 
and South America. The company has also direct con- 
nection, through its own submarine cables, which lie be- 
tween Florida and Havana, with Cuba, all the West 
India Islands and the northern parts of South America; 
and by means of the cables of the Mexican and Central 
and South Auerican Telegraph companies, which start 



121 

from Galveston, Texas, it reaches all the important 
places in Central America and on the west coast of South 
America, and has an alternate route, via the land lines 
from Valparaiso across the Andes, to the Argentine He- 
public, Brazil, etc. 

In the basement of the building are immense boilers 
and engines which furnish power for the dynamo ma- 
chnies and for the operation of the pneumatic tubes, 
which extend to down-town offices in the neighborhood 
of the exchanges, and to the principal up-town sub- 
offices, nine in all, and terminate at the up-town central 
office at Twenty-third street and Fifth avenue. Through 
this pneumatic system, which comprises about 16 miles 
of brass tubes, an endless procession of leather boxes, in 
which are messages of every conceivable import, is kept 
moving either by the compression or exhaustion of air. 

John Street M. E. Church. — Opposite Dey street 
John street runs into Broadway. On the south side of 
John street, between Nassau and William, is the oldest 
Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States. It is 
preserved chiefly for memorial purposes, but also for a 
business men's prayer meeting, which is held from 12:15 
to 1 P. M. during the week, although the worshipers 
sometimes become so excited that they prolong the meet- 
ing, their shouts of praise and joy, and their wailings of 
contrition being heard on the street above the noise of 
the traffic. The history of this edifice is interesting. In 
1766 a few Methodists held services at a private house, 
and afterwards in a room in the barracks near Chambers 
street and Broadway, where the New York Hospital 
afterwards stood. A Captain Thomas Webb, who was a 
Methodist minister as well as a soldier, spent the winter 
of 1766-67 in New York. As he preached in his regi- 
mentals, and was also a man of eloquence, he attracted 
such great crowds that the room in the barracks became 
too small and the services were transferred to a rigging 
loft in William street. Here the society prospered, and 
in 1768 a little rough stone church was erected on the 
site of the present edifice. As dissenters were not al- 
lowed to worship in churches, a fireplace and mantel were 
built in order to give the place a resemblance to a pri- 
vate house. Philip Embury, the famous carpenter 
preacher, built the pulpit with his own hands, and 



122 

preached the dedicatory sermon the 30th of October. 
1768. Tlie gallery was reached by a ladder. In 1817 
the structure was taken down and a larger one built on 
the site. By 1841, however, the-up-town movement had 
drawn most of the congregation away from its vicinity, 
and the ground upon which it stood being valuable, the 
church was torn down, and a smaller one built, the rest 
of the land being utilized for business structures. 

Back of what is now 17 John street, though the site is 
also given as No. 15 and No. 21, stood the famous old 
John Street Theatre. This was not absolutely the first 
place of amusement in New York, for tliei-e is a vague 
record of a theatre as far back as 1740, and in 1750 a 
company acted in a building on the east side of Nassau 
street, between Maiden Lane and John street. The John 
Street Theatre was opened in 1767. The performances 
began at 6 o'clock, and ladies who desired good places 
were requested to send their servants by 5 o'clock to se- 
cure them. The theatre stood 60 feet back of the street, 
and its patrons were compelled to walk through a badly 
lighted wooden passage. The interior accommoda,tions 
were a pit, two rows of rough boxes, and a gallery. The 
theatre was lighted by candles. During the Revolution 
it was called the Theatre Royal, and amateur tiieatricals, 
some of the plays being written by Major Andre, were 
acted by British officers. Washington patronized it 
during the time that he resided in the city as President 
of the United States. Above John and Dey streets, 
Broadway is crossed by Fulton street, one of the most 
crowded thoroughfares of the city. This street runs 
from river to river, and has on its western end Wasli- 
ington, and on its eastern end Fulton Market. At the 
latter point is also the Fulton Ferry to Brooklyn. The 
southeast corner of Fulton street and Broadway is occu- 
pied by the Evening Post Building ; the Coi/wiercial 
Advertiser is at the northwest corner oi Fulton and 
Nassau streets. 

Fidton Market, Fulton street jind East river is one 
of the best known establishments of i*^s kind in New 
York. Including restaurants there are 218 stands, and 
everything in the way of meats, poultry, vegetables, fruits 
and fish are supposed to l)e had here. On April 1st, when 
the trout season opens, there is an especially brilliant 



display of fisli at the market. Opposite, on the east side 
of South street, next to the river, is a wooden structure, 
three stories high, whicli is utilized for a wholesale fish 
market. Here the fishing-sniacks discharge their cargoes, 
and early in the morning the place is made hideous with 
the shouts of licensed venders and retail dealers laying 
in their stock for the day. Wasliington JIarket, at the 
western end of Fulton street, is a somewhat similar 
structure. It is surrounded by the great produce dis- 
trict of New York, virtually the distiibuting center of 
tJie country. Saturday evenings, the booths which 
abound in Vesey and Barclay streets, and from which 
fruit and produce, hardware, stationery, toys and in fact 
almost every variety of cheap merchandise is sold, are 
illuminated by oil torches, which throw a weird, reddish 
liglit, veiled by clouds of thick smoke, over the scene, 
the spectacular effect being heightened by the hoarse 
shouts of venders and the more subdued, but also more 
steady, roar of the surging ci-owd. 

Oldest House in New York. — Between Fulton and 
John streets is No. 122 William street, which is consid- 
ered by good authority the oldest house in New York. 
When William street was opened in 1692 from Wall 
street to Fulton, lots were granted on condition that 
stone houses at least two stories high should be built 
within two years. No. 122 was built at that time, and 
therefore must have been erected Ijetween tlie years 1692 
and 1694. The house is tw^o stories high with dormer win- 
dows in the roof, and is built of narrow Holland bricks. 
There were large open fire-places in the house, one of 
which, in the second story, still remains. They were 
decorated with white and blue tiles representing Bib- 
lical subjects, and several of these have been preserved. 
The house is now occupied as a restaurant. Right back 
of this house was Golden Hill, where the first blood of 
the Revolution was shed (p. 131), and in the house which 
once stood opposite, Washington Irving was born. 

Fulton Street Prayer Meeting. — At 113 Fulton 
street are the offices of the oldest church organization in 
the United States, the Collegiate Reformed Protestant 
Dutch Church, of which the Fulton Street Prayer Meet- 
ing is a chapel, known as the North Church Chapel. 



124 

The Fulton Street Prayer Meeting- being decidedly the 
most interesting adjunct of this ancient organization to 
the public, and being the only adjunct daily accessible 
to it excepting on Sundays, this is the proper place in 
which to give a history of tliis venerable body. 

The Collegiate Dutch Church was organized in 1628. 
In 1623 the first church services on Manhattan Island 
were held by Dutch and Walloon immigrants in the loft 
of the first horse-mill built on the island, and in this loft 
the church was organized in 1628. In the spring of 
1633, when the Rev. Everardus Bogardus came out from 
Holland, the erection of a building exclusively for pur- 
poses of worship was begun on the north side of Pearl 
street, about midway between Whitehall and Broad 
streets. During the Indian War of 1642, a stone church 
was erected inside the fort. The old Middle Church, 
which occupied the site between Cedar and Jjiberty 
streets, where the Mutual Life Insurance Building now 
stands (p. 118), was built in 1729, and was kept in use 
until 1844, when it was leased to the government of the 
United States, and was used as a post-office until 1875. 
The Collegiate Church maintains three churches and 
three chapels; the churches being at 14 Lafayette place, 
which is the old Middle Church, Fifth avenue and 
Twenty-ninth street, and Fifth avenue and Forty-eighth 
street. 

The Fulton Street Prayer Meetivg^ is held on the 
second story of 113 Fulton street. It is capable of seat- 
ing over 5(J0 persons. Signs on the wall tell the vis- 
itor that "No person is allowed to consume over five 
minutes in prayer or testimony," "No controverted 
religious subject's allowed to be introduced." On other 
cai-ds are scripture exhortations. Every day a ditTer- 
ent leader conducts the meeting, so that the style 
and experience may be varied. As soon as the clock 
strikes 12, the leader gives out a hymn, generally a 
familiar one, in which the whole congregation can join 
heartily. Then there is reading and an introductory 
prayer. After more singing, the leader reads extracts 
from the letters wliicli have been received since the 
meeting of the day before. These number from oO to 
100, and are requests for prayers either for the writer or 



125 

for some relative or friend, for the reform of a drinking- 
father or neglectful husband, for the forgiveness of 
some sin that weighs heavily upon the conscience, for 
children who have been led into sin, for the conversion 
of infidels. These letters come from all parts of the 
United States, and even from foreign countries, showing 
how wide-spread is the fame of the Fulton Street Prayer 
Meeting. The leader calls on some brother to pray as 
requested in the letters, and, after singing, tiie meeting 
is thrown open to all, and prayer follows prayer, the 
supplications telling of many experiences similar to those 
which were related in the letters. After this experience 
meeting the proceedings are brought to a close with the 
Doxology. 

St. Paul's Chapel. — On Broadway, between Fulton 
and Vesey streets, stands St. Paul's, a chapel of Trinity 
Parish and the oidy colonial relic among the churches 
of New York. It was the third Episcopal church built 
in the city. Its corner-stone was laid in 1754 and it was 
finished in 1756. It seems curious to the beholder to-day 
that its rear should be towards Broadway, but when 
the church was built the space between it and the North 
river was clear of buildings, and the frontage in that 
direction was considered far more attractive. It is a 
venerable Gothic structure, the air of antiquity being 
eidianced by the graveyard which surrounds it. The 
rear on Broadway is a portico supporting a pediment, 
in which is a niche occupied by a statue of St. Paul. 

Within this portico, aiul set in the rear wall of the 
church, is a monument to General Richard Montgomery, 
the Revolutionary soldier, bearing the following inscrip- 
tions: 

The State of New York caused the remains of Majar-General 
Richard Montj^omery to be conveyed from Quebec and depos- 
ited beneath this monument the 8th day of July, 1818. 

Tliis monument was erected by the order of Congress the 
twenty-tifth of January, 1776, to transmit to posterity a grateful 
remembrance of tlie patriotism, conduct, enterprise' and perse- 
verance of Major-General Richard Montgomery, who, after a 
series of successes amidst the most discouraging difficulties, fell 
in the attack on Quebec, 31st December, 1775, aged 37 years. 



A rough-hewn design of military accoutrements is a 
feature of the memorial. Richard Montgomery, whom 
this' memorial honors, was born near Kaj)hoe, Ireland, 
December 2, 1786. He was commissioned an officer in 
the British army when he was only eighteen years old. 
He was conspicuous at the siege of ijouisburg, and in the 
expeditions against Maitinique and Havana. In 1772 
he came to New York and married a daughter of Robert 
R. Livingston. After a series of successes which made 
him master of the greater part of Canada, he effected a 
junction with Arnold, and at 2 A. M., December 81, 
1775, attempted to capture Quebec by a coup de main. 
The first barrier was carried, but as he was pressing on 
to the second at the head of his troops, he fell with two 
of his aides, killed at the first and only discharge of the 
British artillei-y, and his army retreated. 

In view of Montgomery's Irish birth, it is interesting 
to know that on either side of him lie the remains of two 
Irish patriots. To the north of the rear of the chapel is 
a tall monument erected to the memory of Dr. McNevin, 
and to the south is an obelisk in memory of TJiomas 
Addis Emmet. In the east face of this obelisk not far 
below the pyrimidian is a bust of Emmet in relief, and 
below this about 6 feet above the pedestal an oval in 
which is a relief design of clasped hands, the shamrock 
being on the wrist of one, and stars on the other. 
Another interesting monument in this cemetery is that 
to George Frederick Cooke, the English actor. It stands 
in the eastern part of the graveyard, and was erected by 
Edmund Kean. Cooke, born at Westminster, April 17, 
1756, died from the effects of intemperance at New York, 
September 26, 1812. His first appearance in tlie United 
States was October 21, 1810, at the Park Theatre, New 
York, on the site of 23 Park row, not so very far from 
where he lies buried. The inscription on his monument: 

" Three kiiif^doms claim his birth ; 
Both hemispheres pronoimce his worth," 

was written by Ilalleck. Upon the monument is also 
engraved "Erected to the memory of George Frederick 
Cooke, of the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, 1821." 
Kean's son, Charles Kean, finding, when here in 1846, 
that his father's monument to Cooke had fallen into 
decay, had it repaired, and added to the inscription 



127 

"Repaired by Charles Kean, 1846." It was, as further 
inscriptions upon it tells us, again repaired in 1874 by E. 
A. Sothern, and in 1890 by Edwin Booth, a graceful 
tribute from the greatest American tragedian to a great 
English predecessor. 

After Washington had been inaugurated on the bal- 
cony of Federal Hall (p. 101), he proceeded to St. Paul's 
Church, where services where held, and the same relig- 
ious formality was observed at the Washington inaugu- 
ration Centennial, when Bishop Potter preached the ser- 
mon. President Harrison occupying the pew which 
Washington had used, which is on the left side of the 
church and is marked by a bronze iaeinorial tablet 
donated by the Aisle (^ommittee at the Centennial ser- 
vice. On the opposite side of the church is the pew 
occupied by Governor George Clinton. 

On the block above St. Paul's is the Astor House, one 
of the best-known hotels of the city. In the rotunda, 
reached through the Broadway entrance, from 2,000 to 
2,500 take their luncheon every day of the year, except 
Sundays. 

Post-Office. — At the point where Park Row runs into 
Broadway, forming a triangle bounded by Park Row, 
Broadway and Chambers streets, was, until the erection 
of the Federal or Post-Office Building, the beginning of 
the old common pasture now City Hall Park. Broadway 
originally ran in a straight line only as far as the point 
where Park Row now diverges from it. The road then 
continued on the present line of Park Row to Chatham 
Square, where there was a hill, the Square being formed 
by the necessity of laying out the road in a circuitous 
line so as to make the ascent of the hill as easy as pos- 
sible; and it was not until Broadway was continued in a 
straight line from the point where the old Commons be- 
gan that the triangle, at whose lower end the Post-Office 
stands, was formetl. 

It is worth while to stand at the point of this triangle 
to watch the mighty tide (.f travel that surges and roars 



128 

in its course up and down Broadway. Great buildings 
catch the eye in either direction, but hold it only for a 
moment, for the panorama of humanity, of men, women 
aiul children, of millionaire and beggar, of vehicles of 
every description, allows of no diversion. 

The Buildmg. —The Post-Office Building is used not 
only for a post-office, but also for the United States 
Courts, the United States District-Attorney's office and 
other Federal purposes. Its architecture is Doric, with 
a suggestion of Renaissance, and has been severely criti- 
cised. The fact remains, however, that, possibly only 
by reason of its massiveness or its superior position, it 
lias the elTect of a dignified and imposing structure. It 
is a granite building fronting 340 feet on Broadway and 
the same distance on Park liow, and 290 feet on jMail 
street, which runs along its northern end. An effective 
feature of the building is an entrance looking down 
Broadway, from which the two great fronts on Broad- 
way and Park Bow spread out. A large dome, modeled 
after that of the Louvre, rises above the sky-line on the 
middle of the Broadway side. 

Business. — The New York Post-Office, like the New 
York Custom House, is a source of profit to the Govern- 
ment, yielding some $3,500,000 above expenses. From 
the last official statement of transactions of the New 
Yoik Post-Office, prepared for the annual report of the 
Chamber of Commerce, it appears that during the year 
1889, 542,096,905 pieces of mail matter were handled, in 
3.230,820 bags, weighing 233,637,960 pounds. The sales 
of postage stamps, stam[)ed paper and postal cards 
amounted to $5,192,903.61 ; the sales of newspaper and 
])eriodical stamps to $380,213.61 ; the box rents to 
$50,953.33 ; and the total business of the money-order 
department embraced 3.183,620 items, amounting to 
$91,004,253.55. In the registry department 7,471,083 
packages of letters were handled. Several statistics 
relating to the inquiry and dead letter department are 
also interesting; 46,923 letters and packages were refused 
l)y persons to whom they were addressed, for postage 
due ; 8,432 letters were sent to fictitious addresses ; 
42,292 letters remaining unclaimed at hotels were re- 
turned to the Post-Office ; 553,080 letters were either 



1 



129 

misdirected or insufficiently addressed, and of these 
480,067 were corrected and forwarded. Auion^ those 
insufficiently addressed was one from Germany, directed 
"To my dear son John, New York." This letter was 
sent to the dead letter office along with 1,162,902 
others. In the foreign department 26,058,784 letters 
were forwarded and 21,601,619 letters were received. 

The average daily business of the New York Post- 
Office involves the handling of over 600,000 letters 
and about 9,000 bags of ntwspaper mail. The most 
interesting operation of the Post-Office, the receiving 
and distribution of letters, can be watched from a gal- 
lery which runs along the Park Row side of the mezza- 
nine floor. It is most easily reached from the entrance 
at the point of the triangle looking down Broadway, 
from Avhich a flight of stairs leads to the floor upon 
which it is located. Guards are in attendance, whose 
duty it is to direct visitors to this or any other part of 
tl)e building. The gallery looks down upon the ground 
floor. On the southern end of the Park Row side is the 
city department, and on the Broadway side the outgoing 
domestic. In these departments are shelves with pigeon 
holes arranged according to mail routes in the outgoing 
domestic department, and according to carriers' boxes 
and branches in the city department. On both sides 
are long tables where the stamping is done. As fast as 
the letters are received through the various droj)s in the 
corridors on the ground floor, they fall upon a table, and 
as they do so tliey are faced up and passed on to a long 
table where they are stamped. From the stamper they 
pass to the separator, and from him to the mail-maker, 
who verifies the separation, ties the letters according to 
routes into bundles, putting on each bundle a printed 
label mai'ked with its direction. Tlie mail-maker's work 
is in turn verified by the route agent in the postal car, 
who marks any errors he may discover upon the labels, 
which are returned to the New York Post-Office, where 
a strict account is kejit. On the Mail street side are 
large pouch racks, in v/hich [)Ouches with open maws, 
receive the letters that are showered into them. The 
foreign department is on the extreme northeast end. 
Everything in the Post-Office is done on schedule, and a 
person can ascertain by inquiry of the proper official at 



130 

wljat hour a letter posted at some lamp-post np-town 
sliould reach its destination in the city, or for that mat- 
ter, in any part of the United States. It may be said, 
in fact, that the Post-Office grinds out letters like a 
machine, for if the visitor will waich the carriers' table in 
the center of the floor, he will see that the carrier has 
hardly taken the mail for Iiis route out of the box before 
the a<=sorter is throwing mail into the box for the next 
deliverv. 



CHAPTER V. 



CITY HALL PARK AND VICINITY. 

City Hall Park, which, before 1875 and before the Post- 
Office was erected, occupied the entire triangle bounded 
by Broadway, Park Row and Chambers street, is one of 
the old historic sites of the city. It was the old Com- 
mons, used for a pasturage and for public celebrations. 
Five times each year daring one period of the city's his- 
tory, a public bonfire was lighted, and wine and victuals 
distributed at the town's expense. Not far from where 
the Register's office now is, stood the gallows; after- 
wards a powder-house was built on the site, it being con- 
sidered sufficiently remote from the city for the storage 
of so dangerous an article. 

In the years preceding the Revolution, when public 
sentiment here was in a constant state of ebulition, this 
part of the city witnessed many exciting scenes. A con- 
test between the noted Liberty Boys and the British 
garrison resulted in the fir^t shedding of blood on belialf 
of American liberties, two months before the Boston 
massacre, to which event that honor has generally been 
assigned. January 4, 1770, when tiie news of the repeal 
of the odious Stamp Act reached New York, the Liberty 
Boys erected a large liberty pole on the Commons, op- 
posite the barracks. Several times it was destroyed by 
the soldiers, and as often re-erected by the people. 
January 18th, two days after the soldiers had destroyed 
the pole, several Sons of Liberty caught three soldiers in 
the act of posting insolent hand-t)ills, apprehended them, 
and marched tiiem toward the Mayor's office. A crowd 
gathered, and when a band of some twenty soldiers at- 
temjited to rescue their comrades with cutlasses and 
clubs, the citizens drove them back u\)on Golden Hill, 
the highest point of which was just in the rear of what 



132 

is now 122 William street, the oldest house in New York 
(p. 128). Several citizens were wounded, and one of them 
killed in the atf ray. The Sons of Liberty then purchased 
a plot of land on the Commons, directly opposite 
what is now 252 Broadway, and there erected another 
pole, upon which "Liberty and Property" was in- 
scribed. 

The Park is now an exceedingly attractive s[)ot and 
resting-place. At the junction of Park Row and Nassau 
street is the triangular point upon which tlie handsome 
granite Romanesque structure of the Times building 
stands, one of the happiest architectural creations in 
the city. This and the Pulitzer Building (see below) are 
by George B. Post. Here is " Printing House Square," 
entirely occupied by newspaper offices. The statue of 
Benjamin Franklin, the tutelary divinity of printing in 
this country, was erected in 1872, after a design by 
PJassman, at the expense of Captain De Groot. Diago- 
nally opposite the Times building on the corner of 
Nassau street, is the structure occupied by the Trihune 
buildiiiir, conspicuous by reason of its tall tower, and a 
good example of the Neo-Grec style of architecture. In 
front of the Trihune publication office is a fine statue of 
Horace Greeley, founder of the Tribune, by J. Q. A. 
Ward, which represents the great journalist in a sitting 
position, as though pausing a moment to think before 
putting liis pen to paper. Adjoining the Trihune U the 
Sun building. On the opposite corner of Frankfort 
street is tiie large new building of the New York World, 
the Pulitzer Building, with its great dome, affording 
from its elevation of 309 feet a superb view of the city 
and its environs. 

The municipal buildings in City Hall Park are the 
City Hall itself, the new Court House and the Register's 
office, or Hall of Records, and two other structures in 
the north-east corner. 

City Hall. — The City Hall, although it was built early 
in this century, is still considered one of the finest, if not 
the finest, public building, from an architectural point 
of view, in the United States. The first City Hall in the 
history of Manhattan Island was a tavern built in 1642 
on the north-west corner of Pearl street and Coenties 
alley, theti close to the shore, and ceded after the organ- 



183 

ization of a city magistracy in 1653 to tlie city as a Stadt 
Huys, as which it was used until 1700, when the City 
Hall on Wall street, at the head of Broad, was built. 
In 1788 this was enlarged and converted into Federal 
Hall. In 1803 the corner-stone of the present City Hall 
was laid by Mayor Edward Livingstoi]. It was finished 
in 1812 at a cost of more than half a million dt)llars. Its 
architect was John McComb, whose work, though char- 
acteristic enough to be justly praised as original, shows 
the influence of the Adams Bros, and of Sir William 
Chambers. The City Hall, when cross-sectioned north 
and south, resembles^he Register Office in Edinburgh, 
built by the Adams Bros, in 1774, and the main stair- 
way is somewhat like that built by the same architects in 
the Glasgow Assembly Kooms. The architecture is classic. 
The building consists of a central structure of two 
stories and an attic, snrmounted by a cupola, and two 
wings of two stories each, the whole resting on a base- 
ment of brown freestone. The front and sides are of 
white marble, the rear of freestone. There is a tradition 
that freestone was used for the rear, because the building 
then stood so far out of town that it was thought the 
rear would not be noticed sufficiently to make it 
worth while to build it of marble. A broad flight 
of steps leads from the south to an Ionic colonnade, 
and thence to a large vestibule opening into a corri- 
dor communicating with the staircases, halls and rooms. 
A large circular stone staircase faces the entrance 
from the center of the structure, and on the second 
floor a circular gallery runs around ten marble Corinth- 
ian columns. The cupola is surmounted by a statue 
of Justice and a flagstaff. A person looking at the 
building from a position in front of it, is apt to be struck 
by the want of something to lessen the effect of tallness 
produced by the cupola, and also the monotony of the 
straight roof line, The architect had, in fact, designed 
a pedimental foil for the base of the cupola, showing the 
city arms and statuary, so tliat from this point of view, 
at least, the building is unfinished. In August, 1856, 
a spark from the fireworks set off from the roof of the 
City Hall, at the celebration of the laying of the first 
Atlantic cable, ignited some materials stored near the 
base of the cupola, and the latter was entirely destroyed. 



134 1 

The Imildin^ contains tlie offices of several city offi- 
cials, amon^them tlie office of the Mayor, which is in the 
western wing on the gronnd floor. This office is con- 
nected with the Council Chamber, in which hangs a 
large painting of Washington by Trumbull, ordered of 
him by the City of New York in 1790. This is a full 
length portrait, and is highly interesting not only for its 
subject and the fact that it commemorates an event of 
tlie greatest historical importance, the evacuation of 
the city l)y the British, but also because it is an example 
of a noted early American painter's work. Washington 
stands beside a white charger, which is pawing the 
ground, its liead lowered. The Commander-in-chief's 
right hand holding the reins rests upon the horse's 
croup; Ids left arm is akimbo, tlie hand upon his sword- 
hilt, holding at the same time his chapeau. He is 
watching the evacuation of the city by the British in the 
distance. 

Governor's Room. — The most interesting room to 
strangers in the City Hall is the suite of large apart- 
ments on the second floor front, known as the Governor's 
Room. In this is the furniture used by the first Con- 
gress of the United States in the old Federal Hall. Di- 
rectly oi){)osite the entrance is the large desk used by 
Washington while President; and between the doors 
leading to the East Room of the suite stands another 
desk also used by Washington. The furniture is all of 
mahogany, and calculated to excite the envy of people 
who can appreciate its beauty and its value as relics. 

In this room are numerous portraits of State Governors 
and Mayors. These paintings are not catalogued, and are 
somewhat difficult of identification, but they are never- 
theless a valuable portrait gallery of State and local in- 
terest. There are three Trumbidls in the Govei-nor's 
room, chief among them being the fine portrait of Gov- 
ernor Geoi-ge Clinton, who was Governor of the State at 
the time VVashington was inaugurated President. He 
was a distinguished soldier as well as a statesman of 
force and influence, and it is as a soldier that Trumbull 
has painted him. He stands in uniform with drawn 
sword, his strong face wearing a look of determination. 
A battle scene in the background adds to the spirited 
effect of this picture, which hangs in the east wing of 



135 

the Governor's Roo;n. Ainoii;^ the other portraits in this 
winj? are those of Alexander Hamilton by Weimar; and 
of Van Buren by Inman, the latter hanging over the 
desk used by Thomas Jefferson, which stands in the 
space between the two door leading into the main room. 
On the Jefferson desk is a bust of DeWitt Clinton. Un- 
der the desk is a huge punch bowl, which whs used in 
tills city at the banquet and celebration of the opening 
of the Erie Canal. It was presented to the city by Gen- 
eral Jacob Morton. Inside is the bibular exhortation : 
" Drink deep! You will preserve the city and encourage 
canals." Many, doubtless, would be willing to preserve 
numerous cities and encourage any number of canals 
upon similar terms. In the south doorway between 
the east wing and the main room is a portrait of 
Washington woven in silk in Lyons, France, at a 
cost of $10,000. In the main room, there is above 
the small Washington desk, between the doors leading 
to the east wing, a copy of Gilbert Stuart's fuU- 
lengih portrait of Washington. On the north wall is a 
life size portrait of John Jay, by Weinuir. Jay, a 
typical statesman of the wig and knee-breeches school, 
is standing, his right arm resting on the back of a high 
chair, his left on a book upon a table. Between tiie 
doors leading into the West Koom is a full-length por- 
trait of Lafayette, by Morse. Lafayette stands upon a 
tiled terrace. He wears a black coat, roomy buff 
trousers, and a brown cloak lined with red is draped 
about him. In the background are busts of Washington 
and Franklin, In the west wing are two Trumbulls. 
the most important of them being a portrait of Governor 
Morgan Lewis on the extreme right of the west wall. 
Governor Lewis was a great fighter, not only in the 
Revolution, but in the war of 1812, and Trumbull has 
painted him as a soldier. A small portrait of Gen. 
Williams, who was killed in the second war with England 
at Lake Champlain, is the other Trumbull. It hangs 
on the south wall, beside a large iron statue of Jefferson, 
which was presented to the city by Commodore Uriah 
Levy. Other portraits in this room is a full-length 
likeness of William H. Seward, by Inman, and Hamilton 
Fish, by Hicks, and small portraits of De Witt Clinton 
and Baron Steuben. Seward is shown as a sandy-haired 



186 

youMg man in evening dress, standing by a rnstic chair 
amid rural surroundings. 

On tlie same floor witli tlie Governor's Room, in the 
northwest corner of the building, is the Aldermen's 
Chamber. In tills room are six full-length portraits, one 
of Jefferson at a table, quill in hand, looking up from 
liis writing as if wrapped in thought. Monroe, by Van- 
derlyn, wliose most familiar work, by the way,' is the 
Landing of Columbus, an engraving of which on our 
five dollar notes makes parting with these less sad than 
would otherwise be the case, is shown standing in grace- 
ful pose in black coat, buff vest and knee breeclies. The 
portrait of General and President Taylor, and that of 
Andrew Jackson, who is shown wn'th uncovered head 
and drawn sword, his eyes flashing with the fire of 
battle, are also by Vanderlyn. A strong portrait of 
Clay is by Jarvis. 

While on the subject of the pamtings belonging to the 
city, it may be stated that in the office of the Commis- 
sioner of Public Works, No. SI Chambers street, about 
opposite the new Court House, are Jarvis' portrait of 
Bolivar, Morse's of Monckton, and Jarvis' painting of 
Commodore Perry, a picture of some spirit, but open to 
the criticism that the small boat in which Perry stands 
would inevitably have upset had he in reality struck the 
attitude in which he is. 

Back of the C!ity Hall stands the white marble build- 
ing of the New Court House, a structure of Corinthian 
architecture, three stories high, 250 feet long by 150 
wide. Its most imposing feature is tlie portico and 
steps with columns on the Chambers street front. The 
State Courts and several of the city departments are 
located in this building. 

Register's Office. — To the east of the City Hall 
stands the old Hall of Records or Register's Oflice, which 
is one of the most noted historic buildings in the city, 
being a relic of the Revolution, and in fact the only pub- 
lic building directly connecting us with Revolutionary 
times. Beginning with the occupation of New York by 
the British until Evacuation Day in 1783, it was crowded 
with American prisoners of war and others who had in- 



inn 

eurrod the enmity of the Britisli nuthoritics,HiKl wus ruled 
over by the infamously brutal Provost-Marshal Cun- 
ningham. 

In 1757, when the city was below Wall street, and 
City Hall Park was in the suburbs, the additional room 
needed in the City Hall, which then stood on the site of 
the i)resent Sub-Treasury in Wall street, made it neces- 
sary to build a new jail. Thus originated the present 
Hall of Records, which, when it was finished, stood far 
in the fields adjoining the high road to Boston, sur- 
rounded by the pillory, the whipping- post, the stocks 
and the gallows. In the stormy days which preceded 
the Revolution, obnoxious patriots were imprisoned 
tlierein. Its interest as a Revolutionary prison begins 
with tiie occupation of New York by the British. There 
is a tradition that Hale, the martyr spy, spent his last 
night here, in charge of Cunningham, his executioner. 
The American prisoners were half-starved, and other- 
wise most cruelly treated, and to add to the horrors of 
this dungeon, they were obliged to mingle with the 
worst classes of criminals who were also incarcerated 
here. The well, the sick, the dying, the new-comers, 
and the prisoners emaciated by long confinement were 
here huddled together. An account written by a pris- 
oner says: "So closely were we packed that when our 
bones ached at night from laying on the hard plank and 
we wished to turn, it could only be done by word of com- 
mand, being so wedged and compact as to form almost 
a solid mass of human bodies. The allowance to each 
man was 2 pounds of hard biscuit, and 2 pounds of raw 
pork per week, but no fuel with which to dress it was 
allowed," It is also charged that American generals 
and soldiers were here slowly starved to death, or poi- 
soned by having arsenic mixed with their rations, and 
here these staunch patriots suffered the tortures of the 
damned rather than gain their freedom by entering the 
British service. Ethan Allen, who was confined here, 
also gives a description of the suffering which the pris- 
oners endured. It is said that on evacuation day, Cun- 
ningham refused to release his prisoners, and, when the 
approach of Washington rendered longer stay danger- 
ous, he threw away the key. It is believed to be the 
only Revolutionary prison remaining in the country. 



i;]8 

Ea.-^t liivKii liRiDGE. — Next to the Pulitzer building, 
is the New York terminus of the East River Bridge, to a 
stranger, perhaps, the most imposing public work in the 
United States, and probably the most interesting sight 
in New York. It is tlie largest suspension bridge in the 
world, so grand and yet so graceful that it is impos- 
sible to convey a sense of its beauty in words. To be 
fully appreciated it should be seen from the river, which 
is best accomplished by crossing over to Brooklyn and 
back by the Fulton Ferry, or if one desires a more dis- 
tant view, by tlie Wall street ferry. It should then be 
crossed from the Brooklyn side on foot. As early as 
1865, plans for a bridge to Brooklyn from this point were 
prepared, and in 1867 a company was formed. In 1875 
the enterprise was made a State work. Its construction 
was begun after the plans and under the supervision of 
John A. Roebling, the originator of wire suspension 
bridges. Work was delayed by tardiness of appropria- 
tions and other vexatious incidents. The piers were 
built with the aid of caissons of a size hitherto unknown, 
that on the New Y^ork side weighing 7,000 tons, with a 
concrete filling of 8,000 tons. The Brooklyn tower was 
finished May 18, 1875, it having been built up from a 
clay bottom 44^ feet below low- water mark. The tower 
on the New York side was completed in July, 1876, 
being built up from bed rock 78^ feet below low- water 
mark. The first wire was run across in June, 1877, and 
the four huge cables were completed by October 7, 1878. 
The bridge was opened May 24, 1883. In the course of 
construction there were twenty fatal and numerousdisabl- 
ing accidents. In the first accident John A. Roebling was 
injured and he died of lockjaw, July 22, 1879. His son, 
Washington Roebling, succeeded him. In 1870 he was 
stricken with caisson disease, the result of a fire in the 
Brooklyn caisson, but he was able, thi'ough his wife, to 



supenutend the construction, and in 1876 was moved to 
a residence in J*)rooklyii in view of the bridge, from 
wiiich point he could direct the work. 

The towers are pierced by two archways, 31| feet 
wide and 118 feet above high water. The arches are 
12()| feet liigh. Tlie floor of the bridge runs through 
these. This is supported by four cables 16 inches in diam- 
eter. The bridge is divided into five parts. On the out- 
side on either side are the roadways for vehicles. On 
the inside of these roadways are the roadbeds for the 
trains, which are I'un on the cable system, and between 
these roadbeds, that is, in the middle of the floor, is the 
walk for foot passengers. This is upon a higher level 
tiian either of the otlier divisions. Fares: foot passen- 
gers 1 cent; cars 3 cents (10 tickets 25 cents); vehicles 
5 f ents. 

The following statistics give an idea of the immensity 
of the work : 

Size of New York caisson, 172x102 feet ; size of Brooklyn cais- 
son, 168x102 feet ; timber and iron in caisson, 5.253 cubic yards ; 
concrete in well-lioles, chambers, etc., 5,669 cubic feet ; weifjht 
of New York caisson, about 7,000 tons ; wei}?ht of concrete fill- 
ing, 8,000 tons ; New York tower <!ontains 46,945 cubic yards 
masonry ; Brooklyn tower contains 38,214 cubic yards masonry ; 
length of river span, 1.595 feet 6 inches; length of each land 
span, 930 feet ; length of Brooklyn approach, 911 feet ; length of 
New York approach, 1 562 feet 6 inches ; total length of bridge, 
5.989 feet ; width of bridge, 85 feet ; number of cables, f om' ; 
diameter of each cable 15% inches ; first wire was run out May 
29, 1877 ; cable-making commenced, June 11, 1877 ; length of each 
single wire in cables. 3,579 feet ; length of wire in four cables, 
14,361 miles ; weight of four cables, inclusive of wiapping wire, 
3 5883^ tons ; nltimate strength of each cable, 12,200 tons ; weight 
of wire (nearly) 11 feet per lb. ; each cable contains 5.296 par- 
allel galvanized steel, oil coated wires, closely wrapped to a 
solid cylinder 1.5% inches in diameter ; depth of tower founda- 
ti(m below high water, Brooklyn, 45 feet; depth of tower foun- 
dation below high water. New York, 78 feet ; size of towers at 
liigh water line, 140x.59 feet ; size of towers at roof course, 136x 
53 feet ; total height of towers above high water, 273 feet ; clear 
height of bridge in center of river span above high water, at 
90 deg. F., 135 feet ; height of floor at towers above high water, 
119 feet 3 inches ; grade of roadway, 314 feet in 100 feet ; height 
of towers above road way, 159 feet; size of anchorages at base, 
129x119 feet; size of anchorages at top, 117x104 feet; height of 
anchorages, 89 feet front, 85 feet rear ; weight of each anchor 
plate, 23 tons. Attached to the four large cables are 2,172 hang- 
ing cables. 

The view up and down the river on a clear day is 



140 

superb. One can see beyond Governor's and Bedloe's 
Islands; down the harbor to Staten Island and the Nar- 
rows; up the East river to the bend at Corlears Hook, 
getting a glimpse of the Navy Yard. New York is a 
plain of roof to{)s pierced by innumerable spires and 
chimneys. Brooklyn, being situated on higher ground, 
shows perhaps to greater advantage. The river streets 
of both cities are lined with shipping of all kinds, and 
the river itself is alive with every variety of craft. 

Traffic. — The report of the President of the trustees 
of the East Kivei* l^iidge for the year ending December 
1st, 1890, gives an excellent idea of the vast importance 
of this structure. The receipts from tolls were $1,127, 
094.50, divided as follows: Promenade, $18,614.68; 
carriageways, $76,465.59; railroad, $1,033,014.28. The 
number of passengers carried in the twelve months upon 
the railroad was 87,676.411. The whole number of foot 
passengers for the year was 3,222,073. The aggregate 
number of foot and railway passengers for the year was 
40,898,484. The receipts from all sources were $1,239,- 
493.90. The traffic reached its maximum on Nov. 24, 
when 154,550 passengers were carried in the cars. This 
has been exceeded oidy once in the history of the bridge, 
and that was on April 30, 1889, Washington Inaugura- 
tion Centennial, when 159,259 passengers were carried. 
From the oj)ening of the bridge until December 1 last, 
the number of passengers transported was 180,721,240. 



CHAPTER VI. 



DETOURS FR03I CITY HALL PARK. 

From City Hall Park several interesting detours can 
be made. On Frankfort street the huge arches upon 
which the New York approach to the Brooklyn Bridge 
is built can be seen. These have been utilized for busi- 
ness purposes. Between Frankfort and Fulton streets 
lies the headquarters of the leather trade, the " Swamp," 
so called from the swampy ground of the old Beekman 
farm, situated here; a pungent odor fills the air in this 
district, Frankfort street leads into Franklin Square 
(part of Pearl street), where the famous historical pub- 
lishing house of Harper & Bros, is situated. 

Harper & Brothers, — This is an iron structure on 
the west side of the square, a few doors below Frankfoi't 
street. The firm was founded in 1817, by James and 
John Harper, and was at first a printing house only. 
The first book printed by the old firm of J, & J, Harper 
was "Seneca's Morals," and it is a curious coincidence 
that the firm of Harper & Bros, issued a new edition of 
this work on the day of tlie death of Fletcher Harper, 
who, with his brother. John Wesley Harper, joined the 
original firm soon after its establish ment. The first 
l)ook ]iublished by the Harpers on their own account was 
" Locke on the Human Understanding," This was in 
1818. About 1833 the firm was changed to Harper & 
Bros. December 10, 1853, the firm's buildings on Cliff 
and Pearl street were destroyed by fire, involving a loss 
of $1,000,000, only one-quarter of which was insured. 
Nevertheless, the business was continued without inter- 
ruption in temporary quarters, and the present iron, 
fire-proof structure of seven stories, and occupying half 
an acre, partly on Franklin Square, and partly on Cliff 
street, was erected. It is still considered a model struc- 
ture of its kind. A noteworthv feature is the absence of 



142 

a staircase in the buildings themselves, a spiral stair- 
way leading up from an open court, the buildings being 
reached by bridges from this staircase. Harpers' Maga- 
zine was established in 1850, Harpers' Weekly in 1857, 
Harpers' Bazar in 1807, and Harpers' Young People in 
1881. These periodicals, and the long list of books pub- 
lished by Harper & Bros., are printed on the spot, tlie 
establishment being considered the most complete ])ub- 
lishing house in the world; everything pertaining to the 
printing of books, including the illustrations and wood- 
cutting, being done under one roof. For this reason it 
is an interesting establishment to visit. Permits may 
be obtained on the premises. 

Leading from Franklin Square in a southeasterly direc- 
tion is Cherry Street, once a fashionable thoroughfare, 
Washington having had his first residence as President on 
the corner of Cherry street and Franklin Square. Now it is 
in the very slums, and is appropriately enough approach- 
ed through the obscure shadows cast by tiie elevated i-ail- 
road station. Here is the domain of some of the worst 
tenements in New York. Many of these ai-e the old 
fashionable residences crowded with poverty-sti'ickeii 
occupants, but there are others of more recent building 
which are, if anything, worse. Filth, noisome odoi's, 
and a general appearance of dilapidation mark this street 
and its vicinity. Here are the famous double-decker 
tenements, as they are called, consisting of a huge tene- 
ment divided by a narrow alley, which usually reeks 
with filth, the building on either side of it being prob- 
ably occupied by a population larger than that of many 
a country village or town. The visitor will hardly cnre 
to linger long in this street, and will probably be glad to 
retrace his steps np Frankfort street to City Hall Pai'k 
again. 

Opposite the New York entrace of the East River 
Bridge is Tryon Kow, where the fine building of the 
Staats Zeitung stands. Park Row continues on toward 
the Bowery, and Centre street branches off to the left. 
Park Row is here a street of cheap hotels, pawnbrokers, 
clothing stores, jewelers and saloons. It is not a very 
attractive thoroughfare, but it leads to some rather pic- 
turesque portions of the city. 

Newsboys' Lodging House, — New Chambers street. 



143 

which runs out of Park Row on the ri^ht leads to the 
Newsboys' Lodgiirg House, one of the buildings of the 
Children's Aid Society (p. 62), which also conducts an 
industrial school here. The Society strives to help 
children by encouraging them to be self-supporting. 
The boys pay six cents for lodging, and six cents for each 
meal, but will not be turned away if they cannot pay. 
The institution has sheltered since its foundation 37 
years ago 239,560 boys, and the total expense of carry- 
ing on the work has been $433,256.76, of which the lads 
themselves have contributed $172,776.38. There is a 
good gymnasium, library and reading-room in the house, 
and a day and m'ght industrial school. Last year 7,177 
boys were registered, 59,522 lodgings and 82,081 meals 
were provided, and homes and employment were found 
for 337 bovs, all this fine work being accomplished at a 
netcostof only $6,511.82. 

Returning to Park Row, and continuing toward the 
Bowei-y, Baxter street, which enters the row on the left- 
hand side, is reached. This is the headquarters of the 
clieap or second-hand clothing stores, and it is impossi- 
ble to walk through it without being button-holed by the 
runners-in, who occupy the side-walks in front of the 
stores where clothing of all kinds is hung out and flap- 
ping in the breeze. A tour of this street is not par- 
ticularly agreeable, but it is nevertheless a somewhat 
interesting experience. In the street below Baxter, 
Mulberry, where the Italians are packed like sardines, 
are other side-lights on life in New York. Where Mul- 
berry street crooks like an elbow, not far from Bayard 
street, is the famous ''Bend," where the sanitary police, 
during the summer, scatter disinfectants all day long, 
and where policemen are constantly making tours of 
inspection to find out whether the rooms of the tene- 
ments are not overcrowded to stifling. Here are the 
so-called two-cent restaurants, where a meal and a 
night's rest in a chair are furnished at the small price 
mentioned. The two-cent restaurant is really only a 
higher-toned name for the stale beer dive, and is usually 
situated in a damp, mildewed cellar. The beer is ob- 
tained by the keeper of the dive from the barrels which 
saloon-keepers put out on the sidewalk, and after it has 
been simmering all day long in the hot summer sun it 



144 

is retouched witli chemicals. Some of the dives have 
expressive names, such as the " House of Blazes," 
" Bandit's Roost," and the *' Black and Tan." 

Euteriuf? into Park Row one block further down is 
Mott street, which from Park Row to Bayard street is 
known as Chinatoivn. Looking down upon tiie curious 
and vicious life that is led there by the Chinamen and 
their victims, are the church and school of the Trans- 
figuration, with an image of the Saviour in a niche 
above tiie portico. No stranger contrast exists in the 
city than this evidence of Christianity in this heathen 
quarter of the city, with its Chinese signs and lanterns 
swaying from every balcony and window, and on wires 
that are stretched across the street. At 6 Mott street, 
within a stone's throw of the ciiurch, is a Chinese 
temple. Some of the snuUl shops in this street are 
great Chinese importing houses, and their owners who 
live here are wealthy enough to occupy Fifth avenue 
houses if they cared to. The whole of Chinatown is 
squalid in appearance, its buildings are rickety, old and 
ill-preserved, and the street is badly kept, but nothing 
about tiie whole place is as revolting as the faces of the 
white wives of tliese Chinamen, who are nearly all of 
them victims of the opium habit, and in the last stages 
of that decadence which overcomes those who fall low 
enough to seek r*dief from the woes of life in " hitting 
the pipe." It may be said liere that this neighborhood 
belongs to what is known in police parlance as the 
"bloody Sixth," the Sixth Ward of the city being con- 
sidered about the worst, and requiring the most surveil- 
lance; and a visit here, or in fact to any of the slums of 
New York — an amusement technically known as "slum- 
ming" — is best made at night, under tiie guidance of a 
detective, application for whose services may l)e made at 
Police Headquarters, which see. At the foot of Park Row 
i-; ('hatham Square, nearly the entire space being occu- 
pied by the structure of the elevated railroad, for from 
Hiis point the City Hall branch leaves the main line, 
an<l tlie Second avenue branch comes into it. 

The Boireri/, which begins here, is no longer what it 
used to be, but is still, especially at night, when the 
clu'ap stores, lodging houses and dime museums which 
line it on either side are brilliantly illuminated, a pretty 



145 

lively thoroughfare. But the Bowery boy and his 
glory have departed from it, the change being chiefly 
due to the fact that the large section of the city lying to 
the east of it has of late years been taken up by Polish 
Jews. Near Canal street, on the west side of the 
Bowery, is the Thalia Theatre, once the principal Ger- 
man theatre in the city, but now occuj)ied by a Hebrew 
company. It was once famous as the Bowery Theatre. 

As several detours made later on in the course of 
describing the city from City Hall Park to Union Square 
will bring the stranger again to the Bowery, it will 
hardly be necessary for him to at present pursue its 
course further than Canal street. To see it thoroughly, 
however, he should visit it at night, when the east side 
population and the sailors' boarding-houses south of it 
pour out their denizens upon it. A curious feature of 
New York trade is witnessed in Division Street, which 
leaves the Bowery from Chatham S:|uare. The south 
side of this street running from Chatham Square to 
Market street is taken up by an almost unbroken line of 
Hebrew millinery stores, the sidewalks being occupied 
by runners-iu as importuning as those of Baxter street, 
but differing from the latter in that they are girls in- 
stead of men. 

Five Points Mission. — Returning up Park Row to City 
Hall Park, there is an interesting detour down Centre 
street. Proceeding to Worth street, and turning into it 
to the east, the famous, or rather infamous. Five Points 
is reached, at one time the vilest spot in New York. An 
immense amount of noble mission work has redeemed it 
from the old reign of vice and debauchery, leaving, how- 
over, plenty of work for the missionaries in the neigh- 
boring streets. Dickens speaks of it in his "American 
Notes," saying: " Debauchery has made the very houses 
prenuiturely old. Where dogs would howl to lie, women, 
men and boys slink off the sti"oet." He s[)eaks of hide- 
ous tenements "which take their name from robbery 
and murder," and dwells u[)on the coarse, bloated faces 
at the doors. In 1848 the city converted the little tri- 
angle formed by the meeting of Worth, Park and Baxter 
streets, which come together here in such a way as to 
foi'm live corners, whence the name of the locality, into 
a kind of park, to which, as if in howling sarcasm, the 



140 

name of Paradise Park was given. In 1850 the Ladies' 
Home Mit^sionary Society of tiie Methodist Church was 
formed to redeem this spot, which one of the ladies con- 
nected with the mission described as a more vivid repre- 
sentation of hell than she had ever imagined. A room 
in one of the miserable buildings was hired, and an at- 
tempt was made to establish a Sunday school in it. 
The boys who were attr-acted to it by curiosity rather 
than by any desire to improve their condition, threw 
somersaults, fought and cursed; but instead of being- 
disheartened, those in charge of the mission redoubled 
their efforts, and matters soon improved to such an ex- 
tent that a day school was added. Temperance meetings 
also became a feature of the work, and as one of the 
best means of improving the condition of those living in 
this hopeless locality, employment was found for such 
as were willing to earn an honest living. By 1854 the 
mission had made such progress that its quarters became 
too cramped, and an effort was made to enlarge them. 
With this purpose in view, the society purchased what 
was known as the " Old Brewery," which wasthespecial 
den of vice in this headquarters of iniquity. It had 
been erectul as a brewery in 1792, and changed into a 
tenement in 1837. It was known as the "Den of 
Thieves," and the narrow alley which ran around it as 
" Murderers' Alley." Mysterious deaths, no doubt due 
to violence, occurred here, and the "sudden death of 
the Old Brevvei-y " was an expression current in police 
circles. It was upon this infamous spot, 53 Park street, 
that the Ladies' Home Missionary Society erected tiie Five 
Points Mission House, which has done such noble work 
in redeeming this section of the city. Mot only is re- 
ligious instruction given here, but there is a day school 
with an important industrial dojmrtment, including a 
( ooking class and a fresh-air home. Deserving poor are 
supplied with clothing, food and medicines. Lodgings 
can also be had in the mission house, a feature of these 
being several suites of rooms for destitute families. A 
few statistics will give some idea of the work done an- 
nually by this mission. Relief was last year afforded to 
032 entire families; to 6, 100 individuals 26,791 articles of 
clothing were distributed; 91,400 dinners were served to 
pupils at the day school ; 320 childi-en were sent to the 



147 

country during the summer, and a great amount of food 
was distributed to poor aj^plicants. 

House of Industry. — Opposite trie Five Points Mission 
House, at 155 Worth street, the Five Points House of In- 
dustry, another admiraljle institution, was incorporated in 
1854. It was originally an industrial school for adults, 
but is now for children only. It is a roomy, brick build- 
ing, divided into a chapel, class-rooms, and living apart- 
ments. The biibies' sleeping-room with about 40 tiny 
cribs and the l)abies' n.ui'sery adjoining, are always pecu- 
liarly intei-esting to visitors, as there are some 30 little 
ones usually at play here. The most touching sight, 
however, is to see them all taking their noon-day nap in 
their little cribs, or at their evening prayers, when they 
kneel down ni their snow-white night-gowns and repeat, 
"Now I lay me down to sleep." On the top floor is a 
play -room, 90x45 feet, where the children romp and 
make merry during the play hours. The dormitories are 
also roomy and airy, and the beds are as clean and neat- 
looking as any to be found in the best-conducted house- 
holds. The ch;i|)el is on the lowest floor, and is used not 
only for the inmates of the House of Industry and others 
from outside who clioose to join in the services, Imt is 
also loaned to the City Mission for an Italian church. 
At one end is a raised platform with rows of tiny arm- 
chairs where the little folk are seated during service. 
The rest of the space is for adults, and a gallery is 
I'eserved for vistoi-s. The best time to visit the institu- 
tion is at the even-song service on Sunday, at 3 o'clock, 
after which the children go to supper, where they may 
also be seen. The manner in which they conduct them- 
selves, and the general loveliness of the scene, are the 
most charming evidence of tiie admirable work done by 
the Five Points House of Industi-y. Connected with 
the institution is a honifppathic dispensary and hospital. 
The day school, under the supervision of the Board of 
Education, beginning with a kindergarten. At the 
age of thirteen, the children leave the House of 
Industry, but the Trustees place them in homes both 
here and outside of the city, and seek in every way to keep 
track of any former inmate. Various industrial occupa- 
tions are taught in the house, the course for boys includ- 
ing type-setting and carpentry. The work for last year 



148 

is summed up as follows : 445,191 meals were given, the 
average attendance at school was 296, and the services 
of 40 teachers and employees were called into requisi- 
tion. The pupils of the day school since its organiza- 
tion aggregate 41,010. The system of bringing pupils 
from outside into tlie house has worked very well, as it 
has prevented the stagnation of mind sometimes seen in 
institutions in which children are wholly isolated from 
outside influences. 

The Tombs, — [Permit from the Commissioners of 
Public Charities and Correction, 66 Third avenue]. 
On the east side of Centre street, between Franklin and 
Leonard, stands the Toml)s, the most famous of New 
York's city prisons. Ti)e granite structure is a fine 
example of Egyptian architecture, and is fittingly dark, 
gloomy and forbidding looking. No part of New York's 
topography has been so changed by the growth of the 
city as the site upon which the Tombs stands. Here 
was the old Collect or fresh water pond, a lovely sheet 
of water, the resort of anglers in summer, and of skaters 
in winter. In places the pond was 60 feet deep, and it 
had the common reputation of being bottomless. On an 
island in it, stood the gibbet upon which twenty negroes 
were hung during the negro riots (p. 20). On the 
waters of the Collect John Fitch conducted, in the sum- 
mer of 1790. the first trial of the first steamboat with a 
screw propeller. The pond's outlet was along the pres- 
ent line of Canal street, and when, in 1809, Canal street 
was laid out and other improvements were made in this 
vicinity, the Collect was filled in, and the pretty sheet of 
water, which had been for so many years the delight of 
pleasure-seekers, disappeared from tlie topography of 
tiie city. Ttie Tombs has been an abode of woe for 
nearly fifty years. It is not only a jail, but in its 
various de{)artments exhibits the machinery of the 
criminal law in full operation. A broad flight of steps 
leads from Centre street to a luiU into which the 
Tombs Police Court and the Conrt of Special Sessions 
open. In the Toml)S Police Court, which is to the 
riijht, justice is meted out to some 20,000 people a year. 
On the opposite side of the hall is the Court of Special 
Sessions, which is connected by a bridge known as the 
Bridge of Sighs, with the prison. Across it prisoners 



149 

are led after conviction. The prison itself is entered 
h-om Franklin street. In addition to the old granite 
building, two prison V)uildings of yellow brick have been 
erected in the yards. These are known as the new 
prisons. The cells are in tiers. If a condemned mur- 
derer is awaiting execution, and the day of execution is 
so near that the "death watch " has been set upon him, 
the visitor will see tlie murderer's cage, which is put up 
in whichever of the corridors happens to be most 
convenient at the time. In it tiie condemned are kept 
ten days before execution. It is made of wire netting, 
and usually occupies half the length of the corridor. It 
also has a wire ceiling to prevent any one iti the cells 
above throwing any weapon, rope or poison to the con- 
demned, by which he might be able to connnit suicide. 
The Tombs is saddest during visitors' hours (10 A. M. 
to 2 P. M.), when mothers, sisters, wives, sweethearts 
and others interested in the prisoners hold whispered 
conversations with them through the bars of their cells, 
many of the women breaking down when the hour for 
parting comes. In the keeper's apartments is a cabinet 
of murderers' weapons, each of the implements there 
having a history. 



CHAPTER VII. 



FROM CITY HALL PARK TO MADISON SQUARE. 

Broadway and the streets rumiiiig into it is, from City 
Hall Park to the vicinity of Bleecker street, given over 
to the wholesale dry goods district. While the crowd and 
turmoil, the blockades of vehicles, the shouts of drivers, 
and the struggle of pedestrians at the crossings is inter- 
esting, there is no feature of special importance to call 
for particular mention. 

Canal street (p. 148) is one of the main arteries of com- 
merce from the Bowery and Broadway to the North 
river water front. 

Grand Street. — An interesting detour from Broadway 
may be made at Grand street, which runs from Corlears 
Hook on the East river to Canal street, crossing it and en- 
tering Desbrosses street, which continues on to the Noitli 
river. At Grand and Elm streets the Board of Education 
has its offices. The whole number of public schools in 
New York last year was 302. Grammar schools for males, 
46; for females, 48; for both sexes, 13. Primary de- 
partments of grammar scliools, 8U; primary schools, 38; 
evening schools, 28 ; naut ical school, 1 ; corporate schools 
under supervision of the Board, 48; number of teachers 
employee!, 4,206; number of pupils, 307,108; total ex- 
penditures, $5,600,655.34. The most interesting portion 
of Grand street lies enst of the Bowery, for here Grand 
street becomes the great retail shopping district for 
a densely populated section of the city. The Polish 
Jews throng this part of the city, and on Friday 
afternoons liold an o\)C\\ air market in Hester street 
one block below Grand, the vendors being most numer- 
ous in the neighborhood of Ludlow street. This is 
a picturesque feature of life in New York. In Lud- 
low street, just north of Grand, is Ludlow Street Jail, 



151 

and back of it, on Essex street, the Essex Market Police 
Court. In Ludlow Street Jail prisoners arrested in civil 
suits or on process of the Federal Courts are held. It is 
the p]lba of "Napoleons of Finance," who are often 
finally transported from here to the St. Helena of Sing 
Sing. Ludlow Street Jail is a county jail and permission 
to visit it must be obtained at the Sheriff's office, New 
Court House, City Hall Park (p. 136). On a little open 
space, known as Oriental Park, stands the famous print- 
ing {)ress manufacturing establishment of R. Hoe & Co. 

St. Augustine Chapel. — Returning to Broadway, and 
continuing along its course, a detour through East 
Houston street brings the visitor to St. Augustine 
Chapel, on the south side of this street, a few steps east of 
the Bowery. The purpose of this, the only Protestant 
Episcopal church, and one of very few churches in this 
neighborhood, is to provide means of worship in a hand- 
some and comfortable structure to poor people, and also 
to instruct children. The chapel and mission house form 
a fine Gothic structure. On Sundays, holy days, and on 
nights when services are held, the cross on the spire is 
illuminated, and its gleam has cheered many a poor 
wanderer through a stormy night. The church is as 
handsomely decorated as if it stood in one of the wealth- 
iest sections of the city, and is most commodious and 
cheerful. This doubtless is an important factor in its 
success as a mission station. There is a vista of 214 feet 
from the gate at the main entrance through a long vesti- 
bule to the stained chancel windows, whose cheerful 
colors seem a standing invitation to enter and be com- 
forted. The chapel bell was cast in 1700, and given to 
Trinity by the Bishop of London in 1704. Beneath the 
chapel are Sunday-school class-rooms, which, with the 
other class-rooms in the mission house, will accommo- 
date 1,600 scholars. A day school, an industrial school 
for boys and girls from a kindergarten upward, is in ses- 
sion here during the week, and the building is always 
open to visitors during the day. 

In the building on the northwest corner of Houston 
street and the Bowery the Commissioners of Excise have 
their office. According to the last annual report of the 
Excise Board the total number of licensed drinking 
places in the city, other than hotels, restaurants and 



153 

steamboats, was 6.742. Receipts from liquor licenses 
amounted to $1,442,740; distributed, after the expenses 
of the F]xcise Board had been deducted, among various 
reformatory and benevolent institutions. At the south- 
v^est corner of Houston and Mulberry streets is the large 
building occupied by Pitch, and at No. 300 Mulberry 
street between Houston and Bleecker is the building oc- 
cupied by the Police Department, and by the Board of 
Health. It is commonly known as Police Headquarters 
or the Police Central Office. 

Police Headquarters. — The police force of New 
York City numbers 3,421, including one Superintendent, 
four Inspectors, each of them in charge of a certain dis- 
trict, 36 captains, 158 sergeants, 40 detective-sergeants, 
163 roundsmen, whose duty is to see that patrolmen are 
on their beat, and 2,922 patrolmen, distributed in thirty- 
five police precincts and detailed for duty in the Police 
Courts, the Sanitary Company and the Tenement 
House Squad. The Nineteenth precinct, in what is 
known as the "Tenderloin District," in the heart of the 
city, into which large hotels, restaurants, theatres, 
gambling-houses and varied resorts are crowded, has the 
largest force, a total of 131. There is one p.liceman to 
about each 550 of the population of the city, as com- 
pared with one policeman to eveiy 343 in the Metropoli- 
tan district of London, and one to every 100 in the 
ancient city of London. 

The total annual cost of maintaining the New York 
police force is about $4,425,000. The first public watch- 
men were appointed in 1693, the ordinance stating that 
each watclnnan should be clothed in a "coat of ye citty 
livery, with a badge of ye citty arms, shoes and stock- 
ings." The entire force is now under the supervision of 
a Board of Police Commissioners, consisting of four mem- 
bers, one of whom is the president of the Board. To 
facilitate operations, there is a system of telephone and 
telegraph communication between Police Headquarters 
and all stations; and at Headquarters and each station 



153 

are patrol wagons for the quick transportation of 
large bodies of the force. The "Broadway Squad," a 
body of policemen of conspicuous stature and strength, 
is charged with preventing blockades, escorting passen- 
gers, especially nervous females, across the street, and 
maintaining order on the crowded portions of Broadway 
below Fourteenth street. According to the last annual 
report the number of arrests made during the year was 
82,200, of which 19,926 were females; 2,908 lost children 
were taken care of by the Police Matron at Headquarters 
(one of the most interesting departments to visitors), and 
all but 23 restored to parents or guardians ; property to the 
value of $947,145.26 passed through the Property Clerk's 
office or was delivered at various precincts. Within the 
past ten years 745,946 arrests have been made. A record 
of cheap lodging houses and dormitories is also kept. Of 
these "hot -beds of vice" there are in the city 270, with 
13,648 rooms, which received during the past year 4,974,- 
025 lodgers. The Detective Bureau, the most famous 
branch of the New York police force, attained its present 
proficiency under Inspector Thomas Byrnes. 

An interesting feature of Police Headquarters is a 
museum of criminal implements and the Rogues' Gal- 
lery, a cabinet of photographs of noted criminals, many 
of whom are fine-looking men and women, and the last 
persons in the world one would susf)ect of any crime. 
The contents of the museum include burglars' out- 
fits, murderous instruments, each with a history and 
a victim; and, most ghastly of all, the nooses with which 
certain murderers have been hung, the black caps which 
were drawn over their faces, and the cords with which 
their hands and feet were bound before they were swung 
off. 

Board of Health. — The Board of Health consists of 
a President, a Commissioner of Health, the Health Of- 
ficer of the Port, the President of the Board of Police. 
According to the last annual report 363,875 inspections, 
including 10,987 tenement houses, w^ere made by the 
Sanitary Bureau. The corps inspecting food and chemi- 
cals destroyed 1,495,630 pounds of fruit and vegetables; 
1,763,283 pounds of meat and fish. The disinfecting 
corps fumigated 26.245 rooms and disinfected 83,452. 
The summer corps of physicians visited 264,520 families. 



154 

The Board of Health's last annual vital statistics show 
14,400 marriages, 40,476 births, and 39,583 deaths. 

One block above Houston street, at the northeast 
corner of Bleecker and Broadway, is the large building 
of the Manhattan Savings Institution, and next to it is 
a small classic building occupied by the Bleecker Street 
Bank for Savings, the oldest savings bank in the city. 
With Bond street, which runs into Broadway from the 
west one block above Bleecker street, the publishers', 
and more especially tlie ret^'il booksellers' district, mi;y 
be said to begin (p. ill). On the south side of Bond street, 
near Broadway, is the publishing firm of D. A. Apple- 
ton & Co. ; Charles Scribner's Sons, who are also pub- 
lishers of Scrihner's Magazine, are at 745 and 747 
Broadway, opposite Astor Place; Dodd, Mead & Co. are 
at the southwest corner of Broadway and Clinton Place; 
and on Lafayette Place, which runs pjiraliel with Broad- 
w^ay to Astor Place, are a number of publishing firms 
and the Astor Library, while the Mercantile Library 
building is a large structure on Astor Place. 

St. Joseph's Home. — On the northeast corner of 
Great Jones street and Lafayette Place is St. Joseph's 
Home, under the Mission of the Immaculate Virgin for 
the Protection of Homeless and Destitute Children, a 
great Romjin Catholic charity. It started in snuiU 
quarters in Warren street in 1876, but by 1880 had grown 
into an inslitution which required the present ten-story 
building for the prosecution of its work. The interior 
management of the Mission House is under the care of 
the Sisters of St. Francis. There are, among the cliild- 
ren, two divisions, having distinct dining-rooms and 
dormitories. Those in the first division, destitute, 
homeless boys, who await the time when sufficiently 
strong and possessed of a good rudimentary and indus- 
trial education they may enter some trade, store or oflice 
in which the IMission secures them work, reside in the 
home. Tlie second division is for working boys who 
pay whatever they can for the excellent accommodations 
afforded them, and are apt, thanks to this Mission, to 
become self-supporting, nonest and industrious citizens. 
There are about 1,800 children in the Home. Con- 
nected with the institution is IMount Loretto, a 
fine stretch of fertile farm land with a number of 



155 

buildings upon it, situated on the south shore of Staten 
Lsland. 

At the northwest corner of Lafayette Place and Fourtli 
street is the large building of the De Viune Press, and a 
few doors above on tlie same side of the street, in a 
private house, the old Middle Dutch Reformed Church 
(p. 124). At No. 27 on tiie opposite side is the Episcopal 
Diocesan House. 

AsTOR Library. — On the west side of Lafayette Plac*^, 
not far from the corner of Astor Place, in a large build- 
ing of brown stone and brick is the Astor Library. It 
was originally endowed by John Jacob Astor, wlio died 
in 1848, leaving $400,000 for tlie library. His son, 
William B. Astor, and his grandson, John Jacob Astor, 
added respectively $550,000 and $700,000 to this endow- 
ment. The library, incorpoi-ated January 1, 1849, 
opened at 32 Bond street, with 20,000 volumes. The 
board of trustees included Washington Lwing, as presi- 
dent, and J. G. Cogswell, as librarian. In 1854, the 
central ])ortion of the present structure was opened. A 
wing was added in 1859, and another in 1881. Open, 
except Sundays and legal holidays, 9 A. M. to 5 P. IM., 
closing, however, at 4.30 P. M. and 4 P. M. in winter. 

The Astor Library is intended to be, above all, a 
reference library for students. It is not a circulating 
library. The entrance leads into a vestibule decorated 
in Pompeiian style, and containing twenty-four classic 
busts of Greeks and Romans. A flight of stairs 
rises to the floor above, where the librarian's as- 
sistants receive applications for and hand out books. 
Near this are the tables with catalogues, and also a 
cabinet containing a card catalogue of accessions 
since 1880. On this floor are, besides the distribut- 
ing desks, the North and South Reading Rooms, sur- 
rounded by 90 alcoves, four stories in height, for the 
shelving of books, their capacity being 315,000 volumes. 
On the floor below 350,000 additional volumes can be 
placed. At the east end of the middle hall is a bust of 
the library's founder, John Jacob Astor, and at the west 



1^6 



1 



end one of Dr. Cogswell. A bust of Washington Irving 
is conspicuous in the south hall. Those desiring to 
prosecute special studies are allowed, ou bringing a let- 
ter of introduction from some responsible person known 
to tiie librarian, to have access to the alcoves where they 
can make their notes or write. 

Statistics. — There are now in the library, including 
pamphlets, about 268,000 volumes, and the library's 
estate is estimated at about $2,000,000. The whole 
number of readers for the past year were 64.210, of 
whom 10,226 were alcove readers. In the department 
of Science and Art 72,790 volumes were in use, and in 
tiie dej)artment of History and Literature 97,757, nudviug 
a total for both departments of 170,547. In the former 
department the branch most consulted was Chemistry 
and Physics, 8,339 volumes; and the least consulted 
Domestic Economy, only 249 volumes. This last figure 
is an apt commentary on certain aspects of American 
life. It may \)Q noted tliat 1,635 volumes on Music were 
in use, the library being especially rich in this depart- 
ment, containing the full orchestral scores of Wagner's 
operas and music dramas, in the department of History 
and Ijitei'ature the branch of American History was most 
largely in use, showing a total of 17,916 volumes. 
British Literature was next with 17,629, and then 
American Literature with 9,162 volumes. Dutch 
Literature was last with only 11 volumes. It may be 
noted that in the branch of Heraldry and Genealogy 
there were 8,653 volumes used, showing an active hunt 
for ancestors oir the part of some New York families. 

Rare Boohs and Manuscripts. — The library has an in- 
teresting collection ot rare books and manuscripts, the 
earliest date (870 A.D.) being an illuminated manuscript 
on vellum entitled "Evangelistarium, sive Lectiones ex 
Evangelis." The finest is, however, a superb manu- 
script of the seventeenth century on vellum parchment, 
of great size and beauty, and bound in [)ur})le morocco 
with gilt mountings. It is an "Antiiihonale," contain- 
ing 228 pages of the Antiphonal music in use in the 
Roman Catholic church service, 272 small and 53 large 
miniatures in the highest style of French art, the larger 
paintings representing scenes from the Bible, some of 
the work being authoritatively attributed to Lebrun. 



157 

The superb binding is ornamented witli a fleur-de-lis, 
and with the cipher of Charles X, at whose coronation 
it was designed to be used. Another fine work in the 
collection is entitled "Graduale de Tempore Omnius 
Anni," 1494. It is finely illuminated on vellum with, 
huge Gothic letters and square musical notes, and minia- 
tures of sacred subjects. To judge by the arms and 
portraits of nobles which fill the borders, it was probably 
executed by order of the princes assisting at the corona- 
tion of JMaximillian as King of the Romans in 1486. In 
the collection are also one of six copies of the first letter 
of Columbus, describing his discovery of a new worid; 
the first edition of the Bible printed with a date, "Biblia 
Sacra Latina, 14()'3," an origiiud copy of the Papal Bull 
against Luther, and three folio editions ot Shakespeai"e 
(first, second and fourth), which are enough in them- 
selves to attract many visitors. Their dates are respec- 
tively 1623, 1632 and 1685. Among letters and auto- 
graphs are specimens from Franklin, Jefferson, Hamil- 
ton, Frederick the Great, flumboldt, Beethoven, Liszt, 
Cuvier, and Talma. Most of these rare works and 
autogi-aphs are arranged in cabinets and glass show-cases 
around the stairway, and each bears a card containing a 
full title and additional descriptive matter ; but the 
rarest objects in the collections are shown only on appli- 
cation. (See also Lenox Library.) 

Cooper Union.— At the junction of Third and Fourth 
avenues, fronting on Clinton Place, is the brown stone 
building of the famous Cooper Union, founded by Peter 
Cooper, the American philanthropist. 

The corner-stone of the Union was laid in 1854, and 
in 1859 Cooper deeded the property to six trustees to 
carry out the purposes which he had in view. It has 
Ijeen estimated that since -the Union was opened 30,000 
l)U[)ils have attended the classes alone, not counting the 
lectures which liave an average attendance of 200, nor 
the reading-room and library, which are used by from 
1.400 to 1,500 readers a day, and on holidays, sucli as 
Thanksgiving, by some 2,300. 

Scliools. — In tiie free night school of Science and Art 
(7:25-9 :30 P.M.) a regular collegiate mathematical course 
can be had. Women are admitted to the Scientific but 



158 

not to the Art department, except the cla?s in perspec- 
tive drawing, there being a free art school for woman 
during the da v. 

The Woman s Art School (9 A. INF. to 1 P. M.) em- 
braces a full theoretical and practical course in art. 
Many pupils of this school have secured situations as 
drawing teacliers. Patterns designed by members of the 
chiss in design are bought by leading manufacturers in 
this country and woven and printed in fabrics, so that the 
taste and skill of the pupils in this department are dis- 
played in dry goods stoi'es in New Yoi-k and otlier cities. 
The amount earned by the pupils of the term of 1889 90, 
and by the previous year's graduates is estimated at 
$22,494.92. Tiiere are also free day schools in stenog- 
raphy and type-writing and in telegraphy for women. 
Saturday nights free lectures are delivered in the g'reat 
hall of the building in the basement, and there are lec- 
tui'es supplemental to the various courses. 

The Free Reading-Room of the C'ooper Union, 125x80 
feet, with deep alcoves at the sides, is one of tlie largest 
and best equipped in the country. The chief and most 
useful resources of the frequenters of this reading-room 
are in the magazines and newspapers. Last year 218,- 
986 books were drawn, of which 72,508 were in fiction. 
The attendance at the various departments in 1890, in- 
cluding 560,429, at the Free Reading-RooiP, reached ^a 
total of 564,019 — certainly a magnificent showing, espe- 
cially as the large attendance at the v^irious lectures has 
not been taken into consideration. 

Bible House. — The large brick building occupying 
the entire block bounded by Thii-d and Fourth avenues, 
Eighth and Ninth streets, and just north of the Cooper 
Union, is the liible House, in which the American Bible 
Society has had since 1853 its offices, composing and 
printing establishment and bindery, employing 500 
hands in the work of printing the Bible in English and 
many foreign languages. 

Instituted in 1816, the Societv has since then dis- 
tributed 52,736,075 Bibles. 

The Society carries on its work by auxiliai-y branches, 
and by colporteurs. Bibles and other publications are 



159 

sold at cost price to auxiliary societies for distribution. 
The total cash receipts for general purposes during the 
year ending March 31, 1889, were $597,693.05. In ad- 
dition to this the sum of $43,316.05 was received and 
permanently invested. The disbursements for general 
purposes amounted to $529,955.74. The Society pub- 
lishes Bibles and portions of the Bible in many foreign 
languages, including, besides tiiose of Europe, Hebrew, 
Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Zulu, Ponga, various Indian 
tongues, Hawaiian and Syiiac, and volumes in raised 
letters for the blind. Among large editions of the Scrip- 
tures that have been printed in other lands at the 
Society's expense may be specified 32,700 volumes in 
Constantinople, 1,275 in Beyroot, 33.519 in Japan, and 
223,100 in China. From its organization, the chief re- 
liance of the American Bible Society, both fortlie circu- 
lation of Bibles and the subscription of funds, has been 
its numerous auxiliary societies throughout the United 
States. Recently the work of a fourth general re-supply 
of the United States has b,en undertaken. Over 6,300,- 
000 families were visited; 8,146,828 co[)ies of the Bible 
in 27 different languages being distributed. Some of the 
more important in foreign languages were as follows: 
German, 472,920; Swedish, 220,277; Norwegian and Dan- 
ish, 153,707; Italian, 57.883; Welsh, 29,287; Finnish, 
2,314; Poll*, 2,317; Hungarian, 2,543; Bohemian, 
9,924; Chinese, 7,243. One of the Society's important 
auxilliaries, The New York Bible Society, of!ice at the 
Bible House, makes a specialty of distributing Bibles 
among immigrants and seamen. It keeps an agent at 
the immigrant lauding office, where some 58.000 volumes 
are annually distributed, and has an agent working con- 
stantly along the water front of the city who, during the 
year last reported, visited 1,842 vessels, distributing 
6,020 volumes. 

In the Manager's room is the main part of the 
Society's valualble and unique collection of ancient and 
modern versions of the Holy Scri[)tures, including the 
two editions of IGll, the Oxford reprint of 1833, the 
the Cambridge Paragraph Bil>le, the Caxton Memorial 
Bible, Uie first English Bible printed in the United 
States, the Psalterium Americanum of 1718, the " Vine- 
gar Bible " (Vinegar for Vineyard in headline of Luke 



IGO 

xx), the "Breeches Bible" (''breeches" used in Gen. 
iii, 7), and the earlier editions of the Rheimish Testa- 
ment and the Doiuiy Bible. It is especially rich in works 
relating to the history of the English Bible and the ef- 
forts which have been made during two centuries- to 
amend and improve it, and among its treasures are the 
archives of the American revisers and the collection of 
books made for their use. Among the few manuscripts 
owned by the Society is a Hebrew roll containing a por- 
tion of the Pentateuch, brought from China, where it is 
supposed to have been in use for several centuries. 

On Stuyvesant Place, which runs into Astor Place and 
Third avenue, stands Sf. 3Iark\s Protestant Ejnscopal 
Church, erected as a private chapel by old Governor 
Stuyvesant (p. 19), and opened for worship as a public 
church in 1779. Jn the graveyard in which the vener- 
able structure stands, Stuyvesant is buried, the stone 
marking the site where he lies being in the east wall of 
the church. It was from this graveyard that the body 
of A. T. Stewart was stolen (p. 164). Open daily, ex- 
cept Suaday and in August, 9 A. M. to 6 P. M. 

New York Historical Society. — Open daily, except 
Sunday and in August, 9 A. M. to P. M. Admission on 
presentation of a card from a member. The New York 
Historical Society was founded in 1804, and at once took 
measures to secure books, manuscripts, statistics, news- 
papers, pictures, antiquities, medals, coins, and speci- 
mens of natural history relating to the United States, 
thus instituting in a comprehensive manner a library 
and museum of such objects, always, however, keeping 
as its main purpose the collection and preservation of 
matei-ial relating to the history of New York. As a 
result it has a library containing some 75,000 volumes 
of books, and 2, 700 bound volumes of newspapers issued 
in America from 1704 to the present time; a large col- 
lection of manuscripts, public and private documents 
from the earliest colonial })eriod to the Civil War, and it 
is exceptionally strong in works relating to American 
history and genealogy. Here the American in search of 



161 

a family tree can find a whole forest and select as fine 
and varied a line of ancestors as that purchased by Major- 
General Stanley in tlie "Pirates of Penzance." The 
Society also has a large permanent picture gallery, and 
while many of the paintings are portraits which have 
only local interest, many others are valuable works of 
art. It owns the Abbott collection of Egyptian anti- 
quities, well-known to Egyptologists through the studies 
of distinguished scholars, and the Lenox collection of 
Assyrian sculptures, consisting of thirteen large marble 
slabs excavated by Layard from the ruins of Nineveh. 
These are in the basement of the building. The library, 
art, and Egyptian galleries are on the floors above, the 
entrance to the library being on the second floor. 

The walls of the stairway are lined with paintings 
which have not found accommodat on in the gallery 
proper, and on the landing of ihe first story at the en- 
trance to the library is a nude, finely modeled figure of 
an Indian, a replica by Thomas C'l-awford from his 
"Progress of Civilization in America," a group exe- 
cuted by order of the National Government for the Capi- 
tol at Washington. The art gallery and the collection 
of Egyptian antiquities are reached from the library. A 
catalogue is loaned by the librarian. 

Egyptian Antiquities. — Conspicuous in the Abbott 
collection of Egyptian antiquities are: 1 — A colossal head 
in sandstone, the face painted red, being a portion of a 
statue of Thothmes II 1, who, according to Sir Gardner 
Wilkinson, was the Piiaraoh of the Exodus, "1491 B.C. 
This Pharaoh wears the white crown of Upper Egypt, 
with the sacred serpent, the emblem of royalty, in front. 
43 — A small coffin in unbaked clay. This illustrates a 
curious usage among the Egyptians. At the entertain- 
ments of the rich just as tiie company was about to rise 
from the repast, a small coffin was carried round con- 
taining a perfect representation of a dead body, the 
bearer exclaijning: "Cast your eyes on this figure. 
After death, you, yourself, will resemble it. Drink 
then, and be happy!" 44, 45, and 46 are bricks without 
straw, possibly made by the children of Israel. 140 — ■. 



163 

Three wooden cats with ghiss eyes, from the cat tombs 
of Sakkaron. One has its face gilded and contains the 
mummy of a cat. 152 — Three large mummies of the 
Sacred Bull, Apis, found in the Tombs of Dashour. 
These are perhaps the most valuable exhibits in the col- 
lection, as these mummies are very rare. It is said no 
other museum possesses a specimen. On the back of 
the middle bull may be seen a net of rope used for the 
purpose of carrying objects between two persons, a stick 
being passed under the two pieces of wood, and sup- 
ported on the shoulders of the carriers, together with 
a large rope bag found in the pit with the bulls, and sup- 
posed to have been used by their attendants to carry the 
food for the sacred animals. Two skulls of the sacred 
bull are found in the same case. 234 — Papyrus in the 
Hieratic character 36 feet long, and in such perfect pres- 
ervation that it does not require to be stretched on 
paper. 460 — A beautifully executed spoon in hard 
wood, representing a Nubian wonifin swimming, sus- 
taining in her extended arms a duck or goose which is 
hollowed out and forms the bowl of the spoon. 554 — An 
iron helmet with a neck-guard in cliain armor, found at 
Thebes, with the fragment of a breastplate (575) made of 
pieces of iron in the form of scales, one of which is the 
cartouche of the Egyptian king Shishak, who invaded 
Jerusalem 971 years B.C. 743 — A caricature painted on a 
fragment of limestone, re[)resenting a lion seated on a 
throne as a king, and a fox as high priest making an 
offering of a plucked goose and a feather fan. 766^— A 
funereal papyrus 22 feet long, exquisitely written in 
very small hieroglyphics and finely illuminated, being 
perfect both at the commencement and the end, the 
illustrations representing the most remarkable events in 
the life of the deceased. 1,050 — A gold signet ring 
bearing the name of Shoofoo, the Suphis of the Greeks, 
2,325 B.C., a fine \nece of antique gold weighing nearly 
three sovereigns; hieroglyphic details minutely engraved 
and beautifully executed. Found in a tombat Ghizeh. 
1,052 — Two ear-rings and a necklace found in a jar at 
Dendera. They are Uiade of gold leaf, have three pen- 
dants of lapis-lazuli, and two beads of blue glass attached 
to the centre, where thei-e is also an oval amethyst bead 
capped at each end with gold. The name of Menes, the 



168 

first Pharaoh of E-ypt, who reigned 2,750 B.C., is 
stamped upon the ear-rings, and upon eight oval plates 
of the necklace. 

Picture Gallery. — The picture gallery embraces the 
entire collection of the old New York Gallery of Fine 
Arts, which contains the Luman Reed collection. In 
1867 the Bryan Gallery of Christian Art, and in 1882 
tiie Diirr collection were donated to the Society. From 
1 to 175, the i)aintings in the gallery are chiefly by early 
American artists, representing John Trumbull, C. W. 
Peale, Rembrandt Peale, Benjamin West, Stuart, A. B. 
Durand, Elliott, Jarvis, Vanderlyn, JMount, Morse, In- 
man, Cole. 175 — Gainsborough, Ijandscape. Names of 
old Italian masters are found in the Bryan collection which 
runs from 176-556. Several, however, are but indifferently 
authenticated. 178 — Guido of Sienna, "Virgin and 
Child with Four Saints." From the collection of Artaud 
de Montor. 183 — Simone Ilemmi, "The Last Judg- 
ment." This is the picture of winch Michaels wrote a 
graphic description in the Gazette de France. 197 — 
Feruyino, "Adoration of the Infant Christ." 198 — Leo- 
nardo di Vinci, "St. John Weeping." 200 — Ra/phael, 
"Birth and Resurrection of Christ." The authenticity 
of this and the last-named picture rests entirely upon 
critical opinion. 208 — Titian, " The Repose in Egyi)t." 
The authenticity of this replica is argued from the 
absence of some figures in the background and the intro 
duction of a rivulet in the foreground, and a butterfly 
upon a flower in the right corner, it being presumed 
that a copyist would liuve made an exact copy. 214 — 
Faul Veronese, "Abraham Discarding Ilagar and Ish- 
mael." 220 — Andrea Ilontegna, "The Cruciflxion." 
The Jewish type is jtreserved in llie features of nuuiy of 
the flgures, and in this crowded canvas no two pieces of 
offensive or defensive armor are alike, whicli is worthy 
of particular remark, as Squarcioni, the master of Mon- 
tegna, had the largest and most varied collection of an- 
cient; arms which existed in liis day. 222 — Correggio, 
"The Virgin and Child, Mary Magdalene and St. 
Jerome." The original is at Parma. The authenticity 
of this replica is argued from differences in minor points, 
as the work of a copyist would probably have reproduced 
the original with all possil:)le fidelity. 232 — Domenichmo, 



164 

''St. Paul borne to Heaven by Angels." 242 — Salvator 
Rosa, "Landscape," with historical figures. 

Among examples of the Dutch School are: 259 — Jan 
Beeresfraten, " Winter Scene," a fine example of this 
master. 28d—Douw, "The Artist in his Studio," 291— 
Janvan Eyck, " The Crucifixion," 328 — Portrait signed 
with R, (Rembrandt). 334-338 — Euhens, the authenticity 
of 337 has been denied by critics of authority, 343 and 
344 — Jacob Ruysdael. 349 — Jan Steen, family scene. 
351 — David Tenters, the younger, "Incantation Scene." 

Early German: 375 — Dilrer, "St. George and the 
Dragon." 377 and 'S7S—Bolbein. 

Spanish School: dS3-68Q— Velasquez. 387-390— J7w- 
rillo. 

French School: d9S-^02— Nicholas Poussin. 403- 
405 — Guaspare Poussin. 421-423 — Antoine Watteau. 
43G-Ul—Greu2e. 444 and 445—Vernet. 567-574 are 
Indian portraits by St. Memin, and 578-591 is a collec- 
tion of paintings of the Incas of Peru. 

The Durr collection embraces Nos. 634-812. 634 and 
635 — Murillo. 643 — Attributed to Titian, "Martyrdom 
of St. Lawrence," signed. Possibly the first of three 
pictures on tliis subject which Titian painted. 644 — 
Attributed to Titian, "Aretinothe Poet." This picture 
was found in the wagon of a vivandiere named Machau, 
who was killed at the battle of Marengo, and finally 
passed into the private cabinet of Denon, director of the 
Musee Napoleon. There are many examples of the 
Dutch school in the Diirr collection, among them, 736 — 
" Combat of Cavalry," attributed to Rembrandt. 

Returning to Broadway and continuing up that thor- 
oughfare the fii-st structure of interest is the large iron 
building bounded by Ninth and Tenth streets, Broadway 
and Fourth avenue, and occupied by the dry goods house 
of E. J. Denning & Co., successors to A. T. Stewart, the 
famous " merchant y)rince," and the juoneer among the 
g^-eat retail dry goods dealers of the city. Alexander T. 
Stewart was born in Lisburn, near Belfast, Ireland, on 
the 20th cf October, 1823, died in New York April 10, 
1876. Having studied for the ministry he came to New 
York in 1823, where he taught schoolfor a short time, 
soon afterwards returning to Ireland to secure the mod- 
erate fortune left Jiim bv his father. He invested it in 



165 

a stock of Belfast laces and linens whicli hebrouglitwith 
him to this country, opening in 1825 a store at 273 Broad- 
way. The venture was successful and his business grew 
to extraordinary dimensions. He erected the store at 
Xinth and Tenth streets and Broadway in 1862. His 
fine marble residence on the northwest corner of Thirty- 
fourth street and Fifth avenue, now occupied by the 
Manhattan Club, was for many years the most conspicu- 
ous private house in the United States. Where Broad- 
way verges toward the northwest is Grace Church. 

GrRACE Church. — Open daily (9 A. M. to 5 P. M.). 
Hardly any building in the city occupies so advanta- 
geous a position from an architectural point of view, for 
it faces obliquely down Broadway, effectively ending off 
the vista from down town. Tlie first Grace Church was 
built in 1755, on Broadway near Trinity Church; the 
present in 1846. It is a fine example of ornamental 
Gothic. The parsonage and the structure joining it to 
the church, known as Grace House, are in the same 
style. In front of the parsonage is a pretty garden, with 
well-kept lawn, flowei'-beds and shrubbery, the whole 
forming a most picturesque break in the line of business 
houses. All the windows of the church are stained-glass " 
memorials. The large chancel window illustrates in 15 
separate pictures the Te Deum. In the left transept 
window are the Patriarchs and Prophets, in the right 
the Saints. Connected with the church is a pretty little 
chantry, in which services are held daily, at 4.30 P. M. 
The congregation is very wealthy and fashionable, and 
there is an idea prevalent that it is a self-satisfied col- 
lection of worshipers, partaking of religious stimulants 
in commodious and elegant quarters, and not caring 
very much what becomes of the souls of the rest of the 
world. As a matter of fact, however, Grace Church 
does a vast amount of arduous mission work, having a 
chapel on East Fourteenth street, between Third and 
Fourth avenues, a mission house at 540 and 542 East 
Thirteenth street, a summer home at Far Kockaway, a 
library and reading room in Grace House, on the church 
premises, and a Memorial House at 96 Fourth avenue, 
where an immense amount of industrial and mission 
work is accomplished. A pretty feature of this is a day 
nursery where working women may leave their children 



166 

for the day, tlie little ones being- entertained and fed by 
the good people of Grace Olnirch at a charge of only five 
cents to the mothers. 

Union Square. — Broadway is intercepted at Four- 
teenth street by Union Square, one of the prettiest pub- 
lic parks in the city, covering about S}^ acres, and ex- 
tending from Fourteenth to Seventeenth street, and 
from Broadway to Fourth avenue. It is laid out in 
lawns, with shrubs, shade-trees and flowers. In the 
center is a pretty fountain with water plants, and on the 
east side, near Sixteenth street, a driidcing fountain. At 
the north end of the Square is a broad space for parades 
and reviews. A cottage within the park faces this plaza 
and has a balcony for reviewing officers, and along the 
southern end of the plaza in front of the cottage is a 
long row of ornamental colored lamps. The Square is 
illuminated at night by a cluster of brilliant electric 
lights on a tall pole near the center of the park. 

There are three statues on Union Square: In the south- 
east quarter a bronze equestrian statue of Wasliington 
of heroic eize, by H. K. Browne, one of the finest monu- 
ments in the city; opposite Broadway, at the southern 
end of the park. Bartholdi's graceful statue of Lafayette, 
erected in 1876 by French residents of the city "In re- 
membrance of sympathy, 1870-1871 "; in the southwest 
quarter a bronze statue of Lincoln, by H. K, Browne. 

The Square is surrounded by important business 
buildings. The most attractive is that occupied by 
Tiffany & Co., the famous gold and silversmiths, on the 
southwest corner of Fifteenth street, a visit to which 
should be made, as its contents form a veritable museum 
of jewelry and allied arts. Between the Livingston 
Building and Tiifany's is Brentano's, a noted periodical 
and book store. The music trade also has its head- 
quarters at and near Union Square. The most con- 
spicuous building on the northern side of the Square is 
that partly occupied by the Century Company, which 
publishes the Century macfazine and St. Nicholas. Ad- 
joining this on the corner of Fourth Avenue is the 



167 

Everett House. Fourteenth street to the west is given 
up to a great variety of retail business, including several 
piano warerooms, wliile to the east of Union Square on 
the same thoroughfare are numerous concert halls and 
restaurants, Steinway Hall, the headquarters of the 
piano manufacturing house of Steinway, and on the 
corner of Irving Place and Fourteenth street the old 
Academy of Music, once famous as the home of Italian 
opera, and in days gone by graced by the most fashion- 
able audiences of the city, but now given over to theatri- 
cal purposes of a different order. Next to it on the east 
is Tammany Hall, the headquarters of the famous local 
Democratic organization. Tiie most noted German 
theatre in the city, Amberg's, stands at the corner of 
Irving Place and Fifteenth street. Irving Place ends at 
Twenty-first street with Gramercy Park. This comprises 
about an acre and a half, but is not open to the 
general public, being reserved for those living in the 
neighborhood. At Sixteenth street and Stuyvesant 
Square is St. George's P. E. Church (open all day) and 
its fine parochial house, the headquarters of a vast 
amount of mission work. 

Young Women's Christian Association. — On Fif- 
teenth street, between Union Square and Fifth avenue, is 
the fine building of the Young Women's Christian Asso- 
ciation, an organization which accomplishes an immense 
amount of good in its special field of work. This was 
founded in 1870 and incorporated in 1873, and its advan- 
tages are offered more especially to those young women 
who are dependent upon their own efforts for support. 
There is a circulating library of some fifteen thousand 
volumes of miscellaneous reading matter, open daily from 
9 A. M. to 5 P. M. and from 7 to 9 P. M ; a reading-room 
open daily during the same hours ; an employment bureau 
open from 9 A. M. to.5 P. M.. which secures employment 
for girls with the exception of domestic service; a board- 
ing house directory, open from 10 A. M. to 1 P. M. and 
from 7 to 9 P. M., which directs applicants to boarding 
places, more particularly with private families, thus secur- 
ing for them as near an approach to home surroundings 
as possible. Concerts and lectures are also given during 
the winter and spring, and there is Bible instruction 
every Sunday on the premises. Admission to the 



168 

lectures is by ticket obtained on personal application at 
the building. The support of tlie association is by vol- 
untary contributions. 

On the south side of Sixteenth sti"eet, between Union 
Square and Broadway, is the free circulating library and 
reading-room of the General Society of Mechanics and 
Tradesmen, an institution generally known as the 
Apprenticed Library, free to all persons presenting a 
certificate approved by a member of the society, which 
has meeting rooms on the second floor. Connected 
with the society is a free school of mechanical and 
free-hand drawing, which is conducted in the base- 
ment. On this same block, and adjohiing the Appren- 
tices' Library, is the etching and engraving store of 
F. Keppel & Co. Similar estal)lishments in this neigh- 
borhood are Klackner's on the north side of Seventeen! ii 
street, between Union Square and Broadway, and 
Wunderlich's on tlie east side of Broadway, between 
Seventeenth aiul Eighteenth streets. On the same block, 
but on the west side of the street, is " Huyler's," a noted 
candy store. 

Broadway, between Union Square and Twenty-third 
street, is one of the great shopping districts of the city, 
and all the establishments mentioned below are worth 
visiting, as business is carried on there on a colossal scale. 
On the block between Eighteenth and Nineteenth streets 
are, at 877, A. A. Vantine& Co.. whose store is a museum 
of oriental goods ; and, adjoining this, the dry goods store 
of Arnold, Constable & Co. Ofiposite this is the grea"" 
carpet warehouse of W. & J. Sloan, filled with articles of 
domestic and foreign manufacture from the cheapest 
priced to the most costly. Between Nineteenth and 
Twentieth streets are, on the west side, the Gorham 
Mfg. Co., silversmiths, and the dry goods house of Lord 
& Taylor. The northeast corner of 'Broadway and Nine- 
teenth street, which is not yet occupied by a business 
building, and affords the curious sight of a private 
residence in spacious grounds in the line of the rush and 
turmoil of traffic, belongs to the Goelet estate, and will 
doubtless in time be given over to commerce. On the 
northwest corner of Twenty-first street is the china store 
of Davis, Coilamore k, Co. At Twenty-third street Bro£4- 
way crosses Madison Ssjuare. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



FIFTH AYENUE. 

FROM WASHINGTON SQUARE TO CENTRAL PARK. 

In order to gain a comprehensive idea of Fifth avenue, 
wliich Broadway crosses at Madison Square, it is neces- 
sary to proceed down " the Avenue " to its beginning at 
Washington Square. 

Washington Square. — Washington Square, originally 
a Potter's Field, is a public square of about nine acres, 
bounded on the north by Waverly Place, on the south 
by West Fourth street, on the east by University Place, 
and on the west by McDougal street. Washington 
Square separates the most fashionable from one of the 
least fashionable quarters of the city; though one does 
not now, as formerly, in crossing Washington Square, 
pass from the abode of wealth to the abode of poverty 
and vice, for the southerly neighboriiood has been greatly 
improved. It still harbors a large colored population 
and the " French quarter." 

The most noteworthy building on the south side of 
Washington Square, is the Adoniram Judson Memorial 
Church and Mission, built in memory of the well-known 
Baptist missionary to Burmah. It stands on the corner 
of Thompson street. On the east side, between Wash- 
ington Place and Waverly Place, is the castle-like 
structure of the University of the City of New York. 

New York University. — This institution of learning 
originated in the action of a number of citizens who met 
December 6, 1829, and considered the establishment of 
an university, the plan being to add a graduate course 
to the regular college curriculum. Instruction began in 
1833. In 1841 a Medical School was added, and in 1859 



170 

a Law School. In 1886 tlio graduate division of the 
School of Arts and Sciences was greatly extended, so 
that the iustiuition is now really deserving of the name 
University. The School of Arts and Sciences and the 
Law School occupy tiie building on Washington Square, 
the erection of which was begun in 1832. It contains, 
besides the regular recitation rooms aiul laboratories, the 
council-room, and an excellent law literary. Among the 
distinguished niend)ers of the faculty have been Prof. 
Samuel F. B. Morse, who in a room in the south tower 
carried on experiments which resulted in the invention 
of the telegraph, and Prof. John W. r)rai)er's experi- 
ments in pliotography were carried on in what is now 
the library. 

The Medical School occu})ies a building on East 
Twenty-sixth street, l)etween Fii'st avenue and the East 
river, opj)osite Bellevue Hospital. Here a course of two 
years enables the student to acquire, on satisfactory ex- 
amination, the degree of M. 1),, provided he has studied 
medicine for an additional year. Part of the structure 
used for laboratories in chemistry, physiology, biology, 
pathology, and materia medica is the Loomis LaboratoVv, 
the money to build and equip it having been given 
through Dr. Alfred L. Loomis, the donor remaining 
anonymous. The last matrie'ulatit)ii in this department 
amounted to 6o3, and included besides many Xew 
Yorkers and students from other pjwts of the country, 
natives of Norway, Turkev, Kussia, France, Canada, 
Persia, Chili, Hungary, Mexico, Germany, Central 
America, Austria, Bulgaria and Poland. 

In the University building Bobert Winthrop laid the 
scene of his powerful novel. "Cecil Dreeme."' Above 
the University, University Place extends np to Four- 
teenth sireet. On the east side of this thoroughfare are 
at Xo. 9 the College for Training Teachers, and at No. 
21 the Charity Organization Society. 

Washington Square, North. ^ The houses on the 
north side of Washington Square are examples of the 
old style New York fashionable residences, of brick with 
white steps and porticoes, white sills and pediments, and 
in many instances white doors. Between Fifth avenue 
and University Place stand a row of these lunises in an 
almost unbroken line, like a conq)any of soldiers. Fifth 



171 

avenue ends at the north side of tliis square, but a broad 
tlu)rou<;hrare continues il, throiit::ii the jiark and circling 
.•ii-ouiul a basin, abovit in tiie centre, winds into South 
Fit'tii avenue and Thompson street. East of the basin is 
a statue of Garibaldi, represented as a hero of tlie 
swashbuckler order, erected bv Italian citizens of New 
York in 1888. 

Washington Arch. — The most conspicuous structure 
in or about the square will be the Washini;ton Centen- 
nial Memorial Arch, built of marble from designs of 
ytanfonl White. It will stand 50 feet south of Fifth 
avenue, 80 feet high with a span 30 feet wide, tiie piers 
having- a width of 10 feet each. The abutments will be 
occu})ied by large rectangular panels, and the architrave 
festooned with garlands. At the base of the piers are to 
be figures in statuary. It will be flanked by slender mar- 
ble columns rising slightly al)ove the level of the imposts 
of the arch and each surmounted by the figure of an 
eagle. These columns will sup})ort lain{)s on either side 
near the ground. The erection of this arch was sug- 
gested during the Washington Inauguration Centennial 
in 1880, when a temporai'v arch of Mr. White's design was 
put u[) at Fifth avenue and Washington Square. Tiie 
arch is now in course of construction, and certain details 
of decoration have not yet been decided npon, but it will 
undoubtedly be one of the noteworthy sights of New 
York. 

A good idea of Fifth avenue may be obtained by tak- 
ing one of tlie stages which, starting from South Fifth 
avenue and Bleecker street, cross Washington Square and 
then run up Fifth avenue to Fiighty-fourth street, near 
the Metropolitan jNluseum of Art. Fare, five cents. A 
number of stages have acconnnodaliou for passengers 
outside. Fifth avenue from Washington Square to Cen- 
tral Park is, however, well worth a trip on foot. It is 
crossed between these points by several great thorough- 
fares, among them Fourteenth, Twenty-third and Forty- 
second streets, and near these it is given over to business. 
Along the rest of its course, Iiowever, it is occupied by 
fashionable residences, hotels and clubs, and the busi- 



172 

noss conilucted on it is mostly (f a kind which appeals 
to people of wealth and fashion. 

From Wasliin2:ton Sqnare to Fourteenth street the 
greater part of Fifth avenue is given up to residences. 
At Tenth street a detour may be made to the Jeffer- 
son Market police court and prison, Tenth street and 
Sixth avenue„ To this police court all the prisoners 
apprehended in the famous "tenderloin" precinct (p. 
152) are brought. The prison itself is built on modern 
principles, and whoever has been through the tenement 
house district of New York will probably conclude 
that the prisoners are much better off as far as light and 
air are concerned than they were before they were 
apprehended.* 

On the north side of Tenth street, between Fifth and 
Sixth avenues, is the well known Studio Building, a 
large brick structure, the earliest built exclusively for 
studio purposes. The studio of William M. Chase, one 
of the handsomest in the city, which may be visited 
Saturday afternoons, is in this building. Other studio 
buildings are the Sherwood, 58 West Fifty-seventh 
street, the building of the Y. M. C. A. (p. 174), and the 
University Building p. 169). 

An interesting detour may be made through Four- 
teenth street to Sixth avenue, both Fourteenth street 
and the last-named avenue being a i.ong the most 
crowded retail business thoroughfares of the city. The 
large bazaar of R. H. Macy & Co. stands on the south- 
east corner of Fourteenth street and Sixth avenue, and 
is well worth a visit, for under its roof one can purchase 
the furnishings of a house as well as an outfit for one's 
self. It is merely a matter of choice whether the visitor 
will make a short detour up Sixth avenue and visit some 
of the large retail houses on that thoroughfare, or do so 
from Twenty-third street. 

*By takin J? at this point the cross-town cars which run down 
West Tenth street to Cliristopher street ferry, tlie visitor can 
reach the piers of the White Star and Inman lines of steainsliips, 
and it will be worth wliile to do so if tlie Ttiitoiia\ wiiich liolds 
the record (5 days, 19 hours and 5 minutes), tlie Majt.slk\ both 
of the White Star line, the City of Paris or the City of New 
York, of the Innian line, are in \Hn't. The Canard, Guion and 
French lines are near here and the Bremen ajid Ilamburjr lines 
in Hoboken are easily reached by Christopher street ferry. 



173 

New York Hospital.— Oii the nortli side of Fifteenth 
street, between Fifth and Sixth avenues, and running 
through to Sixteenth street, is the hirge building of the 
New York Hospital, one of the oldest institutions of its 
kind in the United States, and the oldest in New York, 
having received its charter from George III, June 13, 
1771. During the Revolution, its building, Broadway 
and Duane street, served for barracks. Not until Jan- 
uary 3, 1791, was the hospital first opened to patients. 
Treatment of patients suffering from mental disorder 
has always been part of the work of the Society. These 
were treated in the Hospital until the Society purchased 
in 1816 a farm at Bloomingdale, where the Bloomingdale 
Asylum was completed and occupied in 1821. 

The present New York Hospital edifice was built in 
1877. Besides the reception and private rooms and the 
wards of the hospital, there are in the building a fine 
medical library and patiiological' collection. The total 
number of patients treated last year was 1,716, of which 
306 are to be credited to the Bloomingdale Asylum, 
where, since 1821, 8,688 patients have been admitted. 
The original building of the New York Hospital was 
one of the first structures on Broadway above Chambers 
street. Although it was not regularly opened as a 
hospital until 1791, anatomical experiments were carried 
on until 1788, when a medical student threatened some 
peeping boys with a cadaver's arm. The frightened 
boys conveyed the intelligence to others and a mob 
gathered, u[)on which the soldiers were compelled to 
fire l)efore the excitement was quelled. 

The large building on the northwest corner of Fifth 
avenue and Sixteenth street, is occupied by Judge, and 
other publications; and on the south side of Sixteenth 
street, near Sixth avenue, are the church and college of 
SL Fraticis Xavler, well-known (Jatholic institutions. 

On the northwest corner of Fifth avenue and 
Eighteenth street is Chickering Hall, and directly oppo- 
site it the residence of the late August Belmont. At 
154 Fifth avenue is the large building of the Methodist 
Book Concern; on the southwest corner of Twenty-first 
street, the South Reformed Church; on the northwest 
corner the Union Club, the largest i)urely social club in 
the city; and opposite it the Lotus Club, which includes 



174 

a number of literary men, artists and actors among its 
members; on the southwest corner of Twenty-secoml 
street, Boiissod, Valadon & C'o.'s (Goupil s) art store, 
where generally a number of fine paintings can be seen 
on exhibition. 

Twenty-Third Street. — At Twenty-third street, both 
Fifth aveiuie and Broadway enter Madison Square. The 
block bounded by Twenty-second street, Broadway and 
Fifth avenue, runs here to a narrow point, forming a 
triangle corresponding to another on the north, but, un- 
like the latter, occupied by houses. Twenty-third street 
both east and west of Fifth avenue, is an important 
thoroughfare. Between Fifth and Sixth avenues it is a 
crowded retail business block, there being here several 
of the best known dry goods houses in the city, and also 
the publishing houses of A. D. F. Randolph & Co, G. 
P. Putnam's Sons, and E. P. Button & Co. 

On the north side is the Eden Musee and on the north- 
east corner of Sixth avenue and Twenty-third street the 
Masonic Temple. On East Twenty-third street are, at 
No. 6, the American Art Galleries, where paintings are 
generally on exhibition, and on the southwest corner of 
Twenty-third street and Fourth avenue the building of 
the Younir Men's C-hristian Association. 

Young Men's Christian Association. — This is virtu- 
ally a young men's club of a somewhat religious tend- 
ency, offering also opportunities tor instruction, the 
club and instruction fees being within the means of 
nearly every self-supi)orting young man. The Associa- 
tion offers to its subscribers the privileges of reading- 
room, parlors, gymnasium, bowling alleys, library and 
baths, all well furnished. Informal social gatherings 
take place at stated intervals ; there are " member's 
meetings" and musical and other entertainments, and 
athletic clul), outing, rambling, football and tennis 
clubs. The Association owns an athletic ground at 
One Hundred and Fiftieth street, near Mott avenue, and 
boat-houses on the Harlem river near by. Kegulai' 
competitive sports are here hehl in the spring ami fall. 
The educational department carries on its work in a 
liberal and extended manner, classes and lectures being 
held chiefly in the evening. 

National Academy of Design. — On the ju^rlhwest 



175 

corner of Fourth avenue and Twenty-third street is the 
National Academy of Design, a building- of white and 
grey marble and blue stone, copied after a Venetian 
I)alace, with 80 feet front on Twenty-tliird street and 
99 feet on Fourth avenue. A double flight of steps rises 
to the main entrance on the Twenty-third street front, 
and here a massive stairway leads from a vestibule to the 
third story in which are exhibition galleries lighted from 
the roof. The Academy was founded in 1826 and is still 
by virtue of its age. membership and influence the best 
known institution of its kind in the country. Its mem- 
bership is composed entirely of artists, known as National 
Academicians (N. A.), who form the corporate body, and 
of Associates (A. N. A,). Exhibitions of paintings and 
statuary are held in the spring and fall, the galleries 
being then open from 9 A. M. until 10 P. M. Admission, 
25 cents. 

Connected with the Academy are schools of art, open 
from the first Monday in September to June 1st follow- 
ing. Those desiring to become students must submit 
some specimen of their work. Features of the course 
are the '' Harper Fund Lectures," the expenses of which 
are defrayed by a fund given by JIarper & Bros., the 
publishers. 

At 143 East Twenty- third street is the Art Student's 
League, founded June 2, 1875, instruction being given 
here by artists identified with the progressive tendency 
of the Society of American artists. The League is soon 
to occupy fine quarters in the new building of the 
American Fine Art Society (composed of the Society of 
American artists, the American Water Color Society, the 
Institute of American Architects, and the Art Students' 
League) on West Fifty-seventh street, between Sixth 
and Seventh avenues, where the various societies named 
will exhibit. On the southeast corner of Lexington 
avenue and Twenty-third street is the College of the 
City of New York, which is under the jurisdiction of 
tlie Department of Public Schools, the tuition in it being 
free. On the southeast corner of Twenty-third street 
and Fourth avenue is the New York Socieiy for the Pre- 
vention of Cruelty to Children, an admirable institution. 



ITG 



^ 



In its rooms may be seen a collfction of implements 
which cruel parents and others liave used in torturing 
little ones. During its sixteen years of existence it lias 
rescued nearly 28,500 children, besides sheltering, feed- 
ing and clothing many more at its room. The President 
of the Society, Elbridge T. Gerry, was largely instru- 
mental in its founding. The Society for the Prevention 
of Cruelty to Animals, founded by Henry Bergh, is on the 
southeast corner of Fourth avenue and Twenty-second 
street. During twenty-years it has prosecuted some 
16.000 cases in court, com|)elled a temporary suspension 
from work of over 39,000 disabled animals, humanely 
killed over 29,000 horses disabled past recovery, and re- 
moved from the streets in ambulances over 5,000 horses. 
It has a museum of implements with which animals have 
been cruelly treated, the stuffed skin of a dog killed at a 
prize fight, with all its hideous wounds, the stuffed skins 
of the victor and victim of a cocking main, a victim of 
rabbit coursing and similar objects. 

Madison Square. — Fifth avenue crosses Madison 
Square in a straight line, Broadway diagonally, forming 
with Fifth avenue on the northwest corner a small 
triangle occu[)ied by a monument to Major-General 
Worth (see below). At Broadway and Twenty-third 
street, fronting the Square, is the Fifth Avenue Hotel. 
Broadway is, from here to Forty-second street, given up 
largely to fine hotels, theatres, restaurants and shops. 
In the lines of promenaders who throng its sidewalks 
there is apt to be a dash of the "off-color" element, 
which becomes more pronounced as the shades of night 
deepen, for Broadway, from Twenty-third to Thirty- 
fourth streets, is the main artery of the "Tenderloin 
District" (p. 152). A block above the Fifth- Avenue 
Hotel are the Albemarle and the Hoffman House. The 
Hoffnum House Cafe is elaboi-ately decorated and hung 
with works of art, among them Bouguereau's " Nymphs 
and Satyr." On the east Macjison Square is bounded by 
Madison avenue, which runs to tlie northern end of 



177 

Manhattan Island and is almost entirely given over to 
residences ; on the north by Twenty-sixth street. On 
the northeast corner of Fifth avenue and Madison 
Square is the Brunswick Hotel, and diagonally opposite 
it Delmonico's, the most famous restaurant in the 
United States. 

Monuments. — There are three monuments in Madison 
Square. On the southwest corner is a bronze statue by 
Randolph Rogers of William H. Seward, Lincoln's Sec- 
retary of State ; on the northwest corner a statue of 
Admiral Fari-agut, by Augustus St. Gaudens, presented 
to the city by the Farragut Men\orial Association in 
May, 1881, and in the northern triangle, formed by the 
intersection of Fifth avenue and Broadway, the Worth 
monument. 

Farragiit Statue. — The Farragut statue is considered 
the most artistic work of its kind in >Jew York and in 
fact one of the finest of modern statues. The sculptor has 
solved the problem of producing a picturesque represen- 
tation of a man in modern clothing, giving even artistic 
value to such prosaic articles as trousers. The pedestal 
also is a noteworthy variation from the ordinary con- 
ception of this necessary accompaniment of a statue, and 
would have been still more striking had the monument 
been placed on some elevation as the sculptor believed it 
would be. This pedestal, the plans for which were 
drawn by Stanford White, is of North River blue stone, 
and is flanked by a curving wall beneath which is a 
seat, each of the arms formed by the curved back of a 
sea fish. Next to the pedestal are allegorical figures; 
that on the left Loyalty, on the right, Courage. Wavy 
lines, on the pedestal and over the inscription on the 
wall, cover the designs and letters like a veil of undula- 
ting sea. The inscription on tlie right wing of the wall 
is biographical; that on the left is as follows: 

" That the memory of a darinj? and sagacious commander and 
g'entle f?reat-souled man, whose life from childhood w^as given 
to his country, but who served her snpi-emely in the war for the 
Union A. D. iVIDCCCLXI-MDCCCLXV, may be preserved and 
honored, and that they who come after liim and M^ho will owe 
him so much may see him as he was seen by friend and foe, his 
couutrymeu have set up the monument A. D. MDCCCLXXXI." 



178 

The statue which stands upon tliis pedestal is not a 
mere portrait study. The pose and features "express 
the seriousness, the coolness and the moral strength 
which accompany authority, a boldness of conception 
and an initiative f(U-ce, which are peculiar to x\mericans 
and of which Farragut was a living example. ***** 
There is the sailor with his simple and well ordered cos- 
tume, the frock-coat buttoned close, the skirt loose in 
the wind, the figure well balanced with the legs a little 
apart as is natural on a moving ground." The whole 
figure has the solidity of a living person, not the mere 
avoirdupois of a lump of bronze. 

David Glasgoe Farragut was born at Campbell Station 
near Knoxville, Tenn., July 5, 1801. He died at Ports- 
mouth, N. H., August 14, 1870. He became a midship- 
man at the age of eleven, liis first service being aboard the 
famous Essex during her engagement witii the Alert, 
and also when she surrendered to the Phosbe and Cherub 
in the bay of Valparaiso, 1814. Commodore Porter com- 
mended the gjillant behavior of the lad, Farragut, 
expressing his regrets that he was too young for promo- 
tion. In 1823 he took part in the attack on the pirates 
at Cape Cruz, Cuba. During the next 40 years his 
promotion was by the slow process of seniority, and when 
the Civil War broke out he was sixty years old and oidy a 
Captain. He was then at Norfolk, Va., on waiting orders, 
and when Virginia seceded he took liis pistols and his 
family, and hastened north to offer his services to the 
government. After nine months' idleness at Washington 
he was then placed in command of the expedition for 
the capture of New Orleans. Here he perforuied his 
first great feat of war, which drew the eyes of the world 
upon him. On the night of April 24, 1862, he passed 
the forts under tremendous fire and destroyed twenty 
armed steamers, four iron-clad rams and many fire rafts, 
silenced the two Chalmette batteries three miles below 
New Orleans, and at noon the second day had the city 
})eneath his guns. He next passed the fortifications at 
Vieksburg. but there being no co-operative land force he 
repassed them and withdrew to Pensacola for re]iairs. 
July 11, 1802, he received the thanks of Congress and later 
was placed fir.st on the list of Rear Admirals. In the 
autumn he captured Corpus Cliristi, Sabine Pass and 



179 

Galveston. In March, 1863, he got the Hartford and 
Albatross past Port Hudson to Vicksburg, establishing 
communication with the upper Mississippi fleet and 
blockading the Red River so that no sup[)lies could reach 
the Confederate forces. Late in May he co-operated at 
the reduction of Port Royal, and August 5, 1864, he 
assisted at the capture of Mobile. Here, lashed to the 
rigging, he dashed to the head of the fleet at the first 
favorable opportunity. He again received a vote of 
thanks from Congress and was created Vice-Admiral, 
and July 25, 1866, Admiral. From 1867 to 1868 he was 
in command of the European squadron and was received 
with great honor at every port he visited. 

Worth Mo7iumeiit. — The Worth monument is directly 
opposite the Farragut statue. It is of granite, in the 
shape of an obelisk. On the south face there is a bronze 
relief of Worth, mounted, and above it an armorial 
design ; on the east face, cut in stone in a panel of the 
pedestal, " Ducet amor Patri^B " ; on the north face, a coat 
of arms, and on the west face, "By the Corporation of 
the City of New York, 1857— Honor the Brave." The 
names of battles in which Worth was engaged are sculp- 
tured on bands around the obelisk. 

William Jenkins Worth was born at Hudson, N. Y., 
1794; died at San Antonio, Texas, May 7, 1849. He 
entered the army as a private in 1812, became Second 
Lieutenant in 1813, and subsequently aide to Generals 
Lewis and Scott. At the battle of Cliippewa he won the 
brevet of Captain for gallant conduct, and at Lundy's 
Lane, that of Major. In 1815 he became Captain. From 
1821 to 1828 he was instructor of infantry tactics and 
commander of cadets at West Point. In 1841 he had 
the chief command in the war against the Semmoles, 
and in 1842 was brevetted Brigadier-General. He dis- 
tinguished himself during the Mexican war in numerous 
battles, especially in storming the City of Mexico. He 
was brevetted Major-General and received swords from 
Congress, the State of New York, and his native county. 
He died of cholera. His remains rest beneath his monu- 
ment. 

Madison Square Garden. — The most conspicuous 
building in the neighborhood of Madison Square, is the 
Madison Square Garden, the work of Standford White, 



180 

filling the block bounded by Madison and Fourth ave- 
nues, Twenty-sixth and Twenty-seventh streets. Its 
interior is divided into an anipliitheatre, entered from 
Madison avenue, and holding 15,000 people, surpassing 
the capacity of any other hall in the world; a theatre 
occupying the northern corner on Madison avenue, with 
a beautifully decorated interior; a ball-room, the most 
elaborately decorated room in the building, in the style 
of Louis XVI, accommodating 1,500 people; a restaurant; 
and an open air garden on the roof, which will hold from 
3,000 to 5,000 people, and is lighted by anuizeof electric 
liglits. On the southeast corner of the builduig is the 
tower, reached l)y elevator, 300 feet above the street, the 
only point of observation in the upper part of the city 
from which a view of New York and its environs may 
be liad. Directly opposite the Madison Square Garden, 
southeast corner of Madison Square and Madison ave- 
nue, is the University Club. 

Returning to Fifth avenue, there is at No. 204 the art 
store of William Schaus, and at 226 that of Reichard & 
Co., where pictures may usually be seen on exhibition; 
on the southwest corner of Twenty-eighth street. No. 
246, the bric-a-brac and antique store of Syplier & Co.; 
at No. 254, the foreign (chiefly French) book-store of 
Christern; on the northwest corner of Twenty-eighth 
street, one of the Collegiate Reformed Dutch churches 
(p. 124), with ata!)let reciting its history; on the oppo- 
site corner, the fine building of the Calumet Club, and 
between Fifth and Madison avenues, on the north side 
of Twenty-ninth street, the Protestant Episcopal Church 
of the Transfiguration, standing back among well-kept 
grounds, a most picturesque break in the line of houses, 
and popularly known as "the little church around the 
corner," from which so many actors have been buried. 
Joseph Jefferson relates in his "Autobiography" the 
circumstances from which it derived its name and its 
popularity with the dramatic profession. When George 
llolland, the actor, died, Joseph Jefferson, with a son of 
the deceased, called upon the pastor of Mrs. Holland's 
sister, who, however, upon hearing that Holland had 
been an actor, declined holding service at the church, 
adding " There is a little church around the corner 
where you may get it done." "Then, if this be so, God 



181 

bless 'the little church around the corner,'" exclaimed 
Jefferson. 

At the northwest corner of Fifth avenue and Thirty- 
second street is the Knickerbocker Club, the most ex- 
clusive social club in the city. The block on the west 
side of Fifth avenue, between Thirty-third and Thirty- 
fourth streets, belongs to the Astor estate. On the corner 
of Thirty-third street William Waldorf Astor, the 
present head of the house, is erecting a hotel. The 
fortune of the Astor family is chiefly in real estate^ 
It is valued at about $150,000,000 and yields an annual 
income of about $18,000,000. The estate is said to own 
some 2,700 dwelling-houses. 

John Jacob Astor, the founder of this great estate, 
was born at Waldorf, near Heidelberg, July 12, 1763; 
died at New York in 1848. He was the fourth son of a 
butcher, and worked for his father until he was sixteen 
years old. He then joined a brother who was working 
for an uncle in the piano and flute factory of Astor 
& Broad wood, London. In 1783 he sailed for Balti- 
more, with an invoice of musical instruments, but 
conversations which he had on shipboard with a furrier 
ctused him to enter the fur business in New York. He 
was not long in setting himself up in business on his 
own account as a furrier, and at the same time acted as 
agent for Astor & Broadwood, being the first regular 
dealer in musical instruments in the United States. 
He married Sarah Todd. By 1800 he had accumulated 
a fortune of $250,000, and then, for tne first time, 
established himself in a dwelling separate from his 
store. In 1811, he founded Astoria, at the mouth of 
the Columbia river, Oregon, his idea being to go into 
the trapping and trading business on a huge scale in the 
far West, but the war of 1812 interfered with his plans. 
He died worth $20,000,000. He was founder of the 
Astor Library (p. 155). 

The hill which rises from Thirty-fourth street to 
Forty-second street, is known as Murray Hill, and is 
named alter an old family which once owned much of the 
})roperty. When, after the battle of Long Island, the 
British were pursuing the Americans, who were fleeing 
toward the upper part of Manhattan Island, Mrs. Murray 
entertained the English officers long enough for Burr to 



182 

conduct a retreating column two miles long unobserved 
within half a mile of the house. The marble structure 
ou the northwest corner of Thirty-fourth street is now 
the home of the 3Imihattan Club, which is the represen- 
tative Democratic club of the city. The building was 
erected by the late A. T. Stewart (p. 164) as a residence. 
The house above it is occupied by the New York Club. 

Union League Club. — On the northeast corner of 
Fifth avenue and Thirty-ninth street is the fine building 
of the Union League Club, the representative Republican 
elul) of the city, and one of the largest and most im- 
portant politico-social clubs in the United States. It 
was organized February 6, 1863, incorporated February 
16, 1865. May 12, 1863, it occupied its quarters at No. 
26 East Seventeenth street. April 1, 1868. it removed 
to the house southeast corner of Twenty-sixth street and 
Madison avenue, now occupied by the University Club, 
and into its present building March 5, 1881. The club 
was organized during the darkest hours of the Civil War, 
" to promote, encourage, and sustain, by all proper 
means, absolute and unqualified loyalty to the govern- 
ment of the United States." The total membership of 
the club is limited to ],6')0. The admission fee is $300, 
the annual dues of resident members $75, and of non- 
resident members $45. The club has exhibitions of 
pictures in its gallery, and also holds receptions to which 
ladies are invited. The income of the club, according 
to the last annual report, was $296,428.46, of which 
$133,950 was from admission fees and annual dues. The 
reeeii:»ts from the restaurant amounted to $62,174.32; 
for wines, $20,601.45; for liquors, $19,651.54: and for 
cigars, $32,494.58. The payments for salaries and 
wages to employees aggregated $56,476.73. The archi- 
tects of the building wei-e Feabody & Stearns, of Boston. 
It is in Queen Anne style, of Baltimore pressed brick, 
with brownstone trimmings an'd ornaments of moulded 
brick, occupying 84 feet ou Fifth avenue and 132 feet on 
Thirty-ninth street. 

The reading-room on the first floor, which runs the 
entire leuijth of the Fifth avenue side and is decorated 
in Pompeiian style, has ou each side four pillars with 
(Corinthian capitals, with reading-stands for periodicals 
running to the wall and forming pleasantly secluded 



183 

niches. The stairway to the second floor has a carved 
oak balustrade and at the first landing there is a great 
arch of oak, behind which there is a large stained-glass 
window. The hall of the second floor is vaulted in 
Moresque style, studded with opalescent glass. On the 
Fifth avenue side is the well stocked library. Over the 
north alcove hangs Carpenter's picture of the Inaugura- 
tion of Lincoln. The dining-room occupies the greater 
portion of the Fifth avenue side of the fourth floor, 
being 30x80 feet. The decorations are by La Farge. 
The large dormer window, already referred to, opposite 
the door, is a rose window studded with brilliant glass. 
The walls are paneled in oak in English seventeenth 
century style. The center of the ceiling rises to a sharp 
Gothic roof and is decorated in gilt, blue and green. 

At the southeast corner of Fortieth street is Frederick 
W. Vanderbilt's house. The reservoir on the west side, 
extending to Forty-second street, is a good example of 
Egyptian architecture. It was part of the old system of 
waterworks and is practically no longer in use. To the 
west of it, bounded by Fortieth and Forty-second streets 
and Sixth avenue, is Bryant Park. 

Metropolitan Opera House. — A detour may be made 
down Fortieth street to Broadway, on the west side of 
which, between Thirty-ninth and Fortieth streets, stands 
the IMetropolitan Opera House, and on the southeast 
corner of Thirty-ninth street and Broadway the Casino, . 
a fine example of Moorish architecture. The Metro- 
politan Opei-a House has the largest auditorium of any 
opera house in the world, and its stage is exceeded in 
size only by that of the Imperial Opera at St. Petersburg 
and the new Opera at Paris. It is built of yellow brick 
in the style of the Italian Renaissance. The auditorium 
is divided into a parquet, two tiers of boxes, dress circle, 
balcony and gallery. It is calculated that the house 
can be emptied in three minutes. The auditorium is 
decorated in yellow, which is relieved l)y the red uphols- 
tery of the boxes. The usual proscenium is omitted, 
its place being taken by paneled pilasters. In the center, 
above the opening for the stage, is Lathrop's "Apollo 
Crowned by the Muses." and among the decorations of 
the pilasters are Maynard's figures of the Chorus and 
Ballet. The boxes are 7 feet front by 13 feet deep, and 



184 

are intended for six, Broadway above Forty-second 
street is lars^ely ^iven over to fine apartment houses, as is 
also Seventh avenue, which Broadway crosses at Forty- 
second street. 

Returning to Fifth avenue and proceeding \i\) to 
Forty-second street, there is on the north side of Forty- 
second street and Fourtli avenue the Grand Central 
Depot, which extends to Forty-fifth street. This struct- 
ure, 695 feet k^ng by 240 feet wide, is of pressed 
brick trimmed with iron painted white. It is used by 
three railroads — the New York Central and Hudson 
River, the New York and Harlem, which is a l)ranch of 
the former, and the N"ew York. New Haven and Hart- 
ford. The waiting-room and oifieos of the last named 
are on the south side; those of tiie other two companies 
on the west. The glass-covered arch from under which 
all trains start has a span of 200 feet, is 110 feet high 
and running the entire length of the building, and "is 
capable of accommodating 12 trains of 12 passenger 
cars each. On tlie west side is a police station for the 
officers who are on special duty at the depot. An addi- 
tion, also extending from Forty-second to Forty-fifth 
street, and covering about half tlie block between Fourth 
and Lexington avenues, is used for incoming trains and 
there are accommodations here for people who are wait- 
ing for trains. 

St. Bartholomew Mission. — One of the finest mission 
houses in New York City stands on the north side of 
Fortv-second street east of Third aveinie. covering a lot 
75 feet front by a little over 100 feet deep. It is a hand- 
some structure of five stories, after plans of William H. 
Russell, of Renwick. Aspinwall & Russell. Hi the 
basenuMit is a large lavatory with baths and showers, 
and a plunge 22 feet long by 10 feet wide, into which 
unfortunates who come to the mission uiuier the influ- 
ence of liquor are dipi)ed. The center entrance on the 
grouiul room leads to the Rescue [Mission room, which 
will ;iccommod;ite 1200 ])(M>)ile. T!ie entrance to the dif- 
ferent stories of the building is on the eastern side, hi 
the rooms of these stories a great variety of mission 
work and instruction will be carried on, a special feature 
being a kindergarten (dass. On the fourth floor there is 
a gymnasium, and a portion of the roof will be made 



185 

iiitf) a stmiinor ^ardrrn. Tho hoiiso is i)i the slylc of the 
Italian IfenfiissMiice. 'I'hc. first story is of Indiana lime- 
stono witli a ^ninitc wat(M- tabic. From tii(^ first- story 
cornice, to llie lop llicrc will lie li»,jlit l)nfT l>ri<-kwilli 
icri'M, (M)ltM, triinniint^s. 'I'hc. ffu/jidc luis three hays filled 
in with cjist, iron W(»rk juid nnillions fonnin*,^ the frjinu'S 
of the windows. The fifth story, in tin- c<)rnice, is richly 
niodele(| in terracotta. 'J'hc mission honse belongs to 
fh(! pfirisli of /S7. Bdvtholmvc.iv, whose churcli stnnds on 
the southwest corner of Forty-fourth street, jind Mfidi- 
son avenue, and is one of I Ik; wen.lt hiest congregations in 
lluicity, several n)eml)eis of the Vanderbilt, bi.mily wor- 
shiping there. On the east sid<i of M.'idison avenue, 
between J*\)rty-fourt,h n'nd Forty-lifth streets, is the 
handsome ne\vi)uilding of the Mjuihiittan Atldetic Clul), 
and on tlie northeast conic?- of Madison n venue {iikI 
Forty-fifth street the Hnilrofid brnnch of the Young 
Men's Christian Association, l)nilt from funds supplied 
by the Vnnderbilts. 

On Fifth avenue above l'\»rly-second street arc nuiny 
pifices of worsliip, as well Jis fnic j)i'iv}i,l(! residences. The 
nortfieast corner of Forty-t liiid street is 0(!cu|»ied by 
th(; l^cmple Enxniit-KI, a .b-wish synagogue, the [)ro[)- 
erty of a very wealthy organization. It is in Saraceinc 
style, the finest sriecimeii of its (dass in the United 
States and one of the costliest places of worship in 
the city. Conspicuous on the Fifth avenue front arc 
two minarets, with artistic open work. TIm; niMterial 
us(m1 in its constru<-tion are brown and y<dU)W sandstone, 
black a.n<l reel tiles nlternating on the! roof, (L. Fidlitz, 
ar(dntect). On the southwest corner of l^'orty-lifth street 
is tho Universji.list (!hurch (d' the Divine J'ateridty ; 
V>etwe(Mi Forty-fifth and Forty-sixth streets, on tiie west 
side, the Church of the Heavenly Kest; and on the block 
above, the; Windsor Jiotcl. 

Jay (iouf.I). — On thenortheMstcoruerof I'^orty-seventh 
street. No. hlS) Fifth avenue, is the residence of Jay 
Could, a brownst.oiK! structure with si. nuinsard slat <■. roof. 
Jay (lould was born at lioxbury, Delaware Co., N. Y. 
As ix boy lie worked on his fa.thei-'s farm, JUid to defray 
the expenses of his tuition at IIol)jirt Academy he be- 
came book-ke«!per for a bla(d<smit.h. Subsecpiently he 
made surveys of Ulster, Delaware and Albany counties, 



186 

and organized surveying parties for two counties in Ohio 
and one in Michigan. From tiie profits of tin's worlv lie 
saved |5.000. In 1856 lie published a "History of 
Delaware County." After a year in the lumbering busi- 
ness, he put all his money into bonds of the Rutland and 
Washington R. R. at 10 cents on the dollar, and so suc- 
cessful was he in this and similar enterprises, that he 
became in 1859 a broker in Xew York, investing heavily 
in Erie Railway stock, becoming president of the road", 
a position he held until 1872. lie has since then acquired 
immense Western railroad interests, and is the con- 
troling personality in Manhattan (N. Y. City) Elevated 
Railway and in the Western Union Telegraph Co. 
March 13, 1883, rumors that he was financially embar- 
rassed having been circulated, he summoned several men 
of high standing to his office and exhibited $53,000,000 
in securities in his own name, offering to produce 
120.000,000 more if they so desired. 

On the southeast corner of Forty-eighth street is the 
residence of Ogden Goelet, whose brother, Robert Goe- 
let, resides on the southwest corner of Forty-ninth 
street. The Goelets are, next to the Astors, the largest 
private holders of real estate in New York City, the 
annual income from their estate having latelv turned 
the $2,000,000 point. The northwest corner of Forty- 
eighth street is occupied by another of the Collegiate 
Dutch Reformed churches (p. 124). It owns the Ijell pre- 
sented by Minuit (p. 19) to the first congregation in 
New Amsterdam. On the east side, between Forty-ninth 
and Fiftieth streets, is the Buckingham Hotel and its 
adjunct, the Belgravia. 

Columbia College. — On the east side of Madison 
avenue, occupying the entire block bounded by Madison 
and Fourth avenues. Forty-ninth and Fiftieth sti-eets, 
is Columbia College, the greatest educational institution 
in the city and in the f lont rank of the educational in- 
stitutions of the country, a position it has attained 
within recent years, during which, under the last part 
of the administration of President Frederick A. P. 
Barnard and his successor, Seth Low, it has been fulfill- 
ing its mission as a great university. 



187 

History. — Columbia College was chartered as King's 
College October 81, 1754. In December, 1746, money for 
it was raised by public lottery and vested, in November, 
1751, in ten trustees. Episcopalians predominating 
among these and Trinity Church having made a liberal 
grant of land to the College, there was great opposition to 
the chartering of the institution, it being looked upon as 
a design to introduce a church establishment into the pro- 
vince. This opposition being, however, in a great mea- 
sure surmounted, Dr. Samuel Johnson, of West Haven, 
Conn., became president, and in July, 1754, in a room in 
the school-house belonging to Trinity Church, commenced 
the nstruction of a class of students. 

lu 1755 Trinity Church granted land to the college 
bounded by Church, Barclay and Murray streets and 
running down to the Xorth River, the condition being 
that the president should always be a member of the 
Protestant Episcopal Church, and that prayers should be 
drawn from the Protestant Episcopal prayer-book. The 
consideration paid was 12 shillings and the annual 
rental of a pejiper-corn. The trustees held tlieir first 
meeting May 17, 1755. The Governors built a structure 
180 feet long by 80 feet deep at the foot of Park Place. 
In 1763 Dr. Johnson resigned the presidency and was 
succeeded by Kev. Dr. Myles Cooper, of Oxford. In 
1777 a medical depai'tment was added. Dr. Cooper was 
a violent loyalist and during the excitement of a Liberty 
meeting a mob approached the college for the purpose of 
laying violent hands on its Tory [)resident. In order to 
delay them longer and enable Cooper to escape, Alex- 
ander Hamilton, then a student at the college, mounted 
the college steps and began haranguing the mob, while 
another student warned the president. Coopei ran off 
only half-dressed, clambered over the college fence, 
daslied down to the shore of the Hudson and trotted 
along the river bank until near morning, when he found 
shelter "in the house of liis friend, Mr. Stuyvesant," 
remaining therefor that day, and on the following night 
taking refuge on board the 'Kingfisher, a British sloop-of- 
war. During the Revolution the college was used for 
nn'litary purposes. 

In May, 1784, the corporate title was changed from 
King's to Columbia College. In November, 1818, in 



188 

consequence of the establisliment of the College of 
Physicians and Surj^eons in New York, tlie medical 
school was discontinued, but in 1860 the College of 
Physicians and Surgeons was merged into Columbia 
College as its medical department. The Law School of 
Columbia College was established in May, 1858 ; in 1863, 
the School of Mines, certainly a misnomer for an in- 
stitution in which a fidl scientific course is carried on ; 
in 1880 a School of Political Science, and in 1890 a 
School of Philosophy. The college was removed from 
its old site to the block which it now occupies in 1857. 
It derives its large income, not any too large, however, 
for the vast amount of work it carries on and the 
benefits which accrue to its students at a very moderate 
fee, from the rental of buildings on the land granted to 
it by Trinity Church, and also on a tract of land of about 
20 acres between Fifth and Sixth avenues, from Forty- 
seventh to Fifty-first streets, the latter granted by the 
State to the College in 1814 and valued at the time at 
only $5 000. The professors and other instructors of 
Columbia College are ]u-obably the best paid in the 
United States. In 1874 a new building for the School 
of Mines was erected at a cost of $150,000, and in 1879 
a new building (Hamilton Hall), after the plans by C. C. 
Haight, for the School of Arts. Dr. Barnard became 
president in 18G4 and held the office until his death in 
April, 1889. It was about 1880, during his presidency, 
that the College began to be regenerated, and the work 
inaugurated by Dr. I3arnard is now being carried out by 
Seth Low, who was elected president in October, 1889. 
In May, 1890, the trustees ado|)ted a plan for university 
instruction in connection with the College, created a 
new faculty styled the Faculty of Philosophy, placed all 
university work in mathematics and the natural and 
applied sciences under the charge of the faculty of the 
School of Mines, and constituted a University Council to 
have general supervision of the work of the University as 
a whole. 

Departments. — Columbia College employs a president 
and 204 professors, instructors and assistants, and has 
in all the departments 1,648 students, who are stimu- 
lated in their work by numerous valuable scholarships 
^nd fellowships, many of them founded by private en- 



189 

dowineiit. The term college has almost become a mis- 
nomer for the institution, its work having expanded so 
enormously during recent years. Columbia seems 
destined to have a great future as a university, both be- 
cause of its resources and the learning of its various 
faculties, and its location in the chief scientific, art, and 
literary center of the New World. Free tuition is given 
to deserving young men under certain conditions, and 
several free scholarships have been established. The 
departments of instruction in the School of Arts em- 
bi-ace elaborate courses in the classics, litei'ature and 
studies pertaining to the usual college curriculinn, with 
many elective studies. There is a course of post-graduate 
instruction in the higher branches of the studies pursued 
in the under-graduate department, with degrees of 
Master of Arts, Doctor of Philosophy, Doctor of Letters, 
and Doctor of Science. Tiie system of instruction in the 
School of Ilines embraces a full scientific curriculum, 
including Architecture, with post-graduate courses in 
Electrical Engineering, Sanitary Engineering, and for 
the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. There are also 
special higher courses of all studies taught in the school. 
The School of Law exceeds in reputation any law school 
in the United States. The School of Political Science 
gives a complete general view of all branches of internal 
and external public polity, from the threefold standpoint 
of history, law and philosophy. The School of Fhiloso- 
phj/'s eonvse of study embraces the higher branches of 
several of the studies pursued in the School of Arts. 
For School of 3Iedicine see page 200. 

The students and graduates of Columbia College have 
the use of a library containing over 100,000 volumes, 
and subscribing to more than 500 ditt'erent sei'ials. There 
are also in the various departments cabinets and col- 
lections of specimens and models, and the various 
laboratories are fully equipped. 

The block on Madison avenue above Columbia College 
is occupied by a group of buildings resembling a Floren- 
tine palace, one of the most striking blocks of residences 
in the city. Among its residents are such well-known 
citizens as Whitelaw Reid, editor of the Trihune, and 
Edward D. Adams. 

St. Patrick's Cathedral. — The entire block bounded 



190 

by Fiftieth and Fifty-first streets and Fifth and Madison 
avenues is occupied by St. Patrick's Cathedral, consid- 
ered the largest and the finest church building in the 
United States. Open every day. 

The corner-stone of this noble structure was laid Au- 
gust 15, 1858, by Archbishop Hughes, some 100,000 peo- 
ple having gathered to witness the ceremony. May 25, 
1879, the Cathedral was dedicated by Cardinal McClos- 
key, surrounded by 36 archbisho[)S and bishops, and 
more than 400 priests. 

Exterior. — The building, after plans of James Reu- 
wick, is a fine example of decorative and geometric style 
of Gothic architecture. The architecture of the resi- 
dences of the ai'chbishops and canons, in the rear of the 
Cathedral, harmonizes with that of the main structure. 
The dimensions of the Cathedral are: Length, 806 feet; 
height of side aisles, 54 feet ; breadth of nave and choir 
with the chapels, 120 feet; length of transept, 140 feet; 
height, 108 feet. Above the base course, the whole ex- 
terior is of white marble. The principal front on Fifth 
avenue consists of a central gable 156 feet high, with a 
tower and spire on each side reaching to a height of 330 
feet. In the towers 110 feet above the grade of the ave- 
ime is a fine chime of bells, the heaviest in the country, 
weighing 30,000 pounds as against Trinity's 15,000. 

Interior. — The interior of the Cathedral is cruciform, 
and is divided into a nave, two transepts, and a choir 
or sanctuary. The nave is 164 feet long, 96 feet wide 
between the side aisle walls, and 124 feet broad if the 
side ai-^lo chapels are included. It is divided by columns 
into seven bays, each bay being 23 feet in length, with 
the exception of the first one, which is 26 feet long. It 
is cross-sectioned into a center aisle, 48 feet wide and 
110 feet to the apex of the groined ceiling; two side 
aisles 24 feet wide and 54 feet high, the cliapels under 
the window sills at the side aisles being 14 feet wide by 
18 feet high, transepts 144 feet long, clioir or sanctuary 
95 feet long, having three bays, and lieing terminated at 
the east end in the central aisle by the semi-decagon 
apside. The columns which divide the central aisle 



^^r^f. ■——- ^i^^ ^ u ^p ^ r y ^- — -T-^ 




^Jm^. 



bT. i'ATiaeK's CATIIEDUAL. 



191 

from the side aisles are of white marble, 35 feet high, 
and consist of four main cohimns and eight others clus- 
tered to a central shaft, the combined diameter being 5 
feet; the arches between the columns rise to 54 feet; the 
treforium is 15 feet high, and is covered by the roof of 
the side aisle. A passage 56 feet above the floor of the 
Cathedral leads through the treforium all around the 
building. The third story windows are a continuation 
of the tracery of the treforium. The spring line of the 
ceiling of the central aisle is 77 feet from the floor. The 
seating capacity of the floors of the naves and transepts 
is about 2,500, divided among 408 pews from 8 to 11 feet 
in length. The sanctuary floor is raised six steps above 
the main floor, and the high altar is three steps higher, 
the steps being of gray marble, and the platform in 
front of the altar of richly colored marble. All the 
woodwork is of white ash. 

Altars. — The high altar stands at the east end of the 
structure in the center aisle of the choir. The reredos, 
23 feet wide and 50 feet high to the top of the center 
piniuxcle, was carved at St. Brieuc, France, in Poitiers 
stone, and was presented by the clergy of the diocese. 
In the center tower of the reredos is a niche, containing 
a statue of the Saviour, the two flanking towers bearing 
statues of St. Peter and St. Paul, the towers being 
crowned with pierced spires of open tracery work. The 
three niches between the central and corner tower on 
either side contains angelic figures bearing emblems of 
the Passion, The altar proper and the lower division of 
the reredos are of purest Italian marble inlaid with ala- 
basters and precious marbles, and were construe ed in 
Italy. Niches and panels in the front of the bottom 
part of the altar contain respectively statues of the 
Evangelist, and bas-reliefs of the Last Supper, the Carry- 
ing of the Cioss, and the Agony in the Garden, all of the 
purest Carrara marble. The tabernacle on the altar is 
of marble decorated in Roman mosaics, and flanked by 
columns of rare marbles. Its door of gilt bronze is set 
Avith emeralds and garnets, and was the gift of Cardinal 
McCloskey. A crypt or vault of sufficient capacity to 
contain 42 coffins and intended for the entombing of the 
archbishops of New York, is under the floor of the 
sanctuary. 



193 

Other altars are: The Altar of the Blessed Virgin, at 
the eastern end of the north side aisle of the sanctuary, 
of French oak and white marble ; the Altar of the Sa- 
cred Heart, in the south transept, of bronze; the Altar 
of the Holy Family, in the north transept, of Caen stone, 
the gift of Joseph Donohue of San Francisco ; St. 
Joseph's Altar, in front of the west walls of the sacristy, 
of bronze and mosaic. Tliis altar and the window of 
St. Agnes, above it, are gifts of Mrs. Agnes Maitland. 

The Archbishojfs Tlirone, of carved French oak, is 
erected against the first column inside the sanctuary. 
The superb Gothic canopy over it is supported by 
columns and crowned by octagonal lanterns of fine 
design. The sanctuary rail of polished brass branches 
out from the first column in the form of an elliptical 
curve. The Pulpit at the first column outside the 
sanctuary of the main altar on the epistle side is of 
Gothic style and is the gift of the clergy of the diocese 
over which Cardinal McCloskey presided wdien he was 
archbishop, and a memorial of the fiftieth anniversary 
of his ordination to the priesthood. 

Windows. — There are in all seventy windows in the 
Cathedral. Thirty-seven of these represent scenes from 
Scripture and the lives of the Saints and have been 
donated, and form a rich collection of stained glass. 
The two windows of the transept are the most elabor- 
ate. The six-bayed window over the south transept 
door is the tituhir window of the Cathedral, being the 
window of St. Patrick, consisting of eighteen scenes 
from the life of that saint, the series beginning at the 
base of the left-hand bay and running upward in lines 
of three each. In the center of the tracery St. Patrick's 
coronation in heaven is represented. Around it in a 
circle hover angels (after Fra Angelico), each holding a 
scroll on which the line of a hymn is inscribed, all the 
scrolls together constituting tlie entire hymn. This 
window is the gift of old St.' Patrick's Cathedral to the 
new, and, like all the other stained-glass windows of the 
Cathedral, was executed in France. Located over the 
north transept door is the window of the Blessed Virgin, 
the gift of the Albany diocese. It is in nineteen scenes, 
which are read from left to right in lines of six each, the 
coronation being represented in the tracery window, 



193 

The windows of the sanctuary, six lateral windows, 
three on each side, relate to sacrifice: and the five win- 
dows of the apse contain subjects from the life of Christ. 
On the last of the sacrificial windows on the south side, 
the "Sacrifice on Calvary," the gift of John Laden, the 
kneeling figure before the altar is Cardinal McCloskey, 
and his offering is the Cathedral itself. The windows in 
the Chapel of Our Lady represent the Presentation of 
the Blessed Virgin in the Temple, John Kelly; the 
Adoration of the Child Jesus, Thomas H. O'Connor; the 
Virgin Exposing to Veneration the Infant Jesus after 
His Birth, Mrs. Julia Coleman. Opposite this window 
on the south aisle of the church are the Death of St. 
Josej)h, Joseph Florimoud Loubat, St. Alphonsus Ligouri 
mii-aculously giving Speech to a Dumb Youth; in the 
right-hand bay St. Susanna, and in the left-hand bay 
St. Theresa, Susan Elizabeth Loubat, in memory of 
Theresa Aimee Loubat, Countess of Commiuges Guitaut. 
In the center of the next window is a life-size figure of 
St. Agnes; in the right-hand bay the apostle St. James 
the Greater, below this the Blessed Virgin appearing to 
him at Saragossa, in Spain; in the left-hand bay, St. 
Thomas the apostle, and below, St. Thomas touching the 
wound in the side of the Saviour, Mrs. Agnes Maitland. 
In the southern arm of the transept is the window 
of St. Louis, King of France, Henry L. Hoguet; 
adjoining this the window of the Sacred Heart, Mrs. 
Elenora Iselin; on the same line in the north tran- 
scept St. Paul's window, Eugene Kelly, in memory of 
Rev. John Kelly; adjoining this, the window of St. 
Augustine and St. Monica, representing St. Augustine 
at the death-bed of his mother, Mamie and Lena Cald- 
well, in memory of their parents; on the east side of the 
north transept door, St. Matthew's window, Andrew 
Clark; on the west side, St. Mark's window, Bernard 
McGuire; on the west side of the south transept door, 
St. Luke's window, Denis J. Dwyer; on tiie east side, 
St. John's window, William Joyce; on the west wall of 
the north transept, the window of St. Charles Borromeo, 
showing the cardinal during the plague of Milan, Lor- 
enzo Delmonico ; on the west wall of the south transept 
the window of St. Patrick, preaching to an assembly of 
Irish peasants, James Eenwick. The scene underneath 



194 

shows the architect submitting his plan to Archbishop 
Hughes. Cardinal McCloskey stands in the foreground. 
There are ten aisle windows, beginning on the north or 
gospel side. At the angle of the transept there are: St. 
Bernard preaching the Second Crusade, Diocese of 
Rochester; The Martyrdom of St. Lawrence, Diocese of 
Ogdensbur^; The Papal Approbation of the Constitu- 
tion of the Brothers of the Ciiristian Schools, by Benedict 
XIII, January 26, 1725, The Ciiristian Brothers; St. 
Columbanus Administering to Thierry II, King of 
Burgundy, the Rebulce wliich led to his Conversion, 
Jei'emiah and William Devlin, in memory of Daniel 
Devlin; The Three P>aptisms — in tiie center our Lord's 
baptism by St. John, the baptism of water; to the right 
a martyrdom, the b iptism of blood ; to the left, a solitary 
reclining figure, consumed with tiie desire of baptism, 
the baptism of desii'e, James McKenna. On the south 
aisle: St. Vincent de Paul, the saint in the central 
division, habited in stole aiul surplice; on the right 
hand, the saint und rgoing punishnient on behalf of a 
prisoner who is seen going on his way rejoicing; on tiie 
left, the saint holding an infant in his arms and directing 
a sister of charity to another infant asleep on the pave- 
ment, James Olwell. The window of St. Elizabeth, St. 
Andrew and St. Catherine, — St. Andrew in the center 
taking upon himself the cross; beneath, the scene of his 
execution; on the right, St. Catherine, leaning upon the 
wheel with which her cruel torture and death were in- 
flicted ; below, the nuptials of St. Catherine to our Lord 
(after Rubens); to the left, St. Elizabeth bearing bread to 
the poor, which turned into flowers when her unjustly sus- 
picious husband insisted upon seeing what she was carry- 
ing so carefully concealed, J. A. and Eliza O'Reilly. 
The Annunciation, William and John O'Brien; St. 
Henry in the battle against the Slavonians, the most 
spirited window in the series, Ileiny J. Anderson. The 
Immaculate C'onceptioii. commemorating the i)roclama- 
tion of this dogma by Pius IX, the pontiff standing on 
his throne in the act of giving the apostolic benediction 
after having ]>roclaimed the dogma. Above the head of 
the Pope is a figure oF tlie Immaculate Conception. The 
statues of St. Peter and St. Paul on either side are 
copied from the statues in the entrance to St. Peter's, 



195 

Rome, Diocese of Xewark. The organ gallery between 
the front towers is 46 feet wide, 28 feet long, "and capa- 
ble of accommodating a choir of 100 singers. Access to 
it is had by a spiral staircase situated in the south lobby 
of the Fifth avenue entrance, which also leads to the 
passage around the treforium. The organ lias four man- 
uals and a compass of two and one-half octaves in the 
pedals, 

Romcm Catholic Orphan Asylum. — Two large blocks 
bounded respectively by Fifth and Madison avenues, 
Fifty-first and Fifty-second streets, and by Madison and 
Fourth avenues and the same streets, are "devoted to the 
purposes of the Roman Cathoiit' Orphan Asylum, the 
asylum for boys occupying the Fifth avenue block, and 
that for girls the IMadison avenue block. The latter is 
a comi)aratively new building, and admirably arranged. 
There are an average of 400 children in each of the 
buildings, the choir of the cathedral lieing drawn from 
the boys' asylum. Neither girls nor boys are required to 
wear a uniform, and are not bronght up with tiie idea 
that tiiey are dependent on charity, the coui'se of in- 
struction aiming to make them independent men and 
women. It includes a common school education, music 
and singing for both the boys and the girls, and sewing, 
crocheting, cooking and housekeeping for the girls, and 
trade instruction for the boys. Each building has a 
large playground, and a feature of the Madison avenue 
structure is a beautiful chapel 145 feet in depth. The 
best time to visit the Female Orphan Asylum is on 
Wednesday between 12:30 and 2:30 P. M., when the girls 
are instructed in calisthenics; the boys' asylum, Tues- 
days and Thursdays at 3 P. M,, when they go through a 
regular military drill under the command of a militia 
officer. On state occasions they are uniformed and fully 
accoutred. The Asylum was organized in 1817, and in- 
corporated under its present name in 1852. 

Vanderbilt Houses. — On the west side of Fifth avenue, 
between Fifty-first and Fifty-second streets, are the resi- 
dences erected by the late William H. Vanderbilt, the 
southerly building being occupied by his widow, the 
northerly by his brother-in-law, W. D. Sloan. On the 
north side of Fifty-second street opposite the Sloan resi- 



196 

(lence is the residence of Win. K. Vanderbilt. Cornelius 
Yanderbilt resides on the noi-thwest corner of Fifty- 
seventh street. Tlie "Vanderbilt houses," as the two 
brownstone buildings between Fifty-first and Fifty- 
second streets are popularly spoken of, were first occupied 
in January, 1882, Mrs. Vanderbilt throwing them open to 
her friends on the 17th of that month. They were built, 
furnished and decorated by Herter Bros, in a little more 
than two years. Their architecture has been severely 
criticised, but this makes them none the less objects of 
interest to the curious. 

The houses are coiniected by a vestibule in the middle 
-of the block. The doors leading into Mrs. Vanderbilt's 
house are reduced copies of tlie Ghiberti gates in Flor- 
ence. The main hall, carried uj) to the full height of 
the house, is surrounded by galleries from which the 
private living rooms are entered. On the ground floor 
is a high wainscoting of English oak, square columns of 
dark red African marble supporting the first gallery. 
Facing the entrance is a large fireplace with a full-sized 
bronze female figure in relief on each side, and massive 
scu'ptured marble chimney-pieces. On the east side is a 
door flanked by carved oaken seats. This leads to the 
drawing-room. The w^oodvvork of this room is a maze of 
carving, gilded and glazed with warm tints. The walls 
are hung in pale red velvet embroidered in folifited and 
floral designs, crystal being sprinkled among the leaves 
and flowers to represent dew-drojis. At the northern 
end of this room a door leads to tlie library, the decora- 
tions of which are conspicuous for the beautiful effect 
produced by antique Greek patterns in mother-of-pearl 
and brass on mahogany and rosewood, the furniture be- 
ing designed to harmonize. South of the drawing-room 
is the Japanese parlor, which is modeled and furnished 
in free Japanese fashion. A ceiling of bamboo with its 
l)ole rafters, a rich low-toned tapes1>i;y with panels of 
velvet, a low cabinet in imitation of ftcquer work with 
innumerable shelves for bric-a-brac running around the 
room, a large open fireplace with a seat covered with un- 
cut velvet, are features of this apartment. The dining- 



197 

room is finished in the style of the Italian Renaissance, 
an arrangement of glass-faced cases supported by rich 
consoles resting on a beautiful wainscot of rich golden- 
hued English oak, delicately carved. The ceiling is 
elliptically arched with oblong paneh carved in designs 
of fruits and foliage in various tints of gold, and fres- 
coed with hunting scenes by Luminals. The main stair- 
case, which rises from the north of the main hall, is 
lighted by nine stained windows by Lafarge. 

The entrance to the picture gallery is from the west 
end of tlie hall, but there is a sejiarate entrance from 
Fifty-first street. The picture gallery is, of course, a 
strictly private one, but artists of recognized rank and 
connoisseurs who apply through acquaintances of the 
family have little difficulty in obtaining admission to it. 
On a niche of the broad arch ovt-r the entrance from the 
house is Alma Tadema'sel'dssiG " Entrance to a Theatre." 
Opposite, before the fireplace recess, hangs DetailWs 
famous painting showing two wounded French officers 
carrying a mortally wounded comrade out of a shattered 
church betvveen two lines of Prussians who have fallen 
back on either side to make way for them. As the ar- 
rangement of the pictures is changed from time to time 
as accessions are received, the exact order of their hang- 
ing cannot be given. The collection embraces Viherfs 
capital "Cardinal and Monk Destroying Forbidden 
Books," the Cardinal, however, first gorging himself 
on the contents. ViUegas' "Royal Christening," the 
baby shrieking lustily, much to the consternation of all 
concerned; the same artist's picture of a Turk sensu- 
ously outstretched on a divan listening to the music of 
a fair almond-eyed slave; Fortuny's " Dancing Arabs," 
five wildly whirling figures, tvvoof them discharging their 
firearms, watched by their motionless comrades, wrapped 
in the folds of their white burnous; five Millets: a 
{peasant girl of sturdy frame carrying water; peasant 
mother teaching her daughter how to knit; woman 
emptying a pail into a glass jar just outside the door, 
near which are ducks and geese; shepherdess wrapped in 
a cloak knitting; two hunters in a snowy wood. Vcm 
Marcke's cattle collected outside a thatched stable in an 
orchard. 3Ieissonier's picture of a commandant in a 
green buff coat, white trousers and top boots, straddling 



198 

pompously before an open fireplace, puffin*? at his pipe, 
and frowning over a dispatcli handed to him by a sol- 
dier, while a brother officer in scarlet lounges on an easy 
chair. The same artist's picture of troops halting while 
officers question a peasant. Gerome's "Sword Dance" 
of a beautiful slave before an Oriental dignitary, and 
an Oriental soldier leaning against the pillar of a court- 
yard and raising an earthen cup to his lips. Zamocois' 
"King's Favorite"; Roydefs "Florentine Dames and 
Cavaliers at a Concert"; Breton's Peasant Girl busy at 
her distall, seated on a large stone, with shore and" sea 
for background ; Bougiiereaii's "Italian Flute Player"; 
Frere's "Two little Water Carriers in a snowy street". 
The girl has set down her pitcher to rub her chilled 
hands. Dauhigny's "Cattle on the Shore of a Quiet 
Lake"; i^osa j5oM/iez<r's " Huntsman," leaning against 
a tree, dogs resting, and four horses awaiting their 
riders, the whole canvas flooded by a beautiful light. 
In the smaller adjoining room is 3Ieisso?iier's portrait of 
William II. Yanderbilt showing him in an upright posi- 
tion in aji arm-chair, his right lijsnd resting on his knee, 
his left fingering his watch chain; 3Ieisso? tier's "Artist 
and Wife" viewing the former's work ; Diaz's "Scene 
in the Forest of Fontainbleau"; the same artist's 
" Moorish Children"; Fromentin''s "Gambling Scene in 
a Tavern " and "Caravan Crossing a Stream"; Troyoiis 
"Cattle"; Dupres " Landscape "; De^fwY^e's "Gen. Yon 
Moltke and Staff"; Rosa Bonheur's "Sheep"; A''?iaws's 
"Village Festivity "; Delacroix's " Indian . Warrior at 
the Head of his Troops." A number of fine water colors 
hang in a gallery about this room. 

The Vanderbilt family is of Dutch origin. Members of 
it were settled at Flatbush, L. L, about 1650. In 1718, 
Jacob Van der Bilt purchased a farm near New Dorp, 
Staten Island. The family became members of the 
Moravian Church, Cornelius Vanderbilt (the "Commo- 
dore " and founder of the family's wealth) was born near 
Stapleton, May 27, 1794. He earned his first capital by 
doing a certain amount of work within a certain time on 
his mother's farm. His mother, thinkinij- it impossible 
for him to do the work within the time specified, olTered 
him .|100 if he would accomplish the task. He hired a 
number of boys on his promise to give them free trips in 



199 

the boat lie itijended purchasing witli the money. The 
work was (lone; he bought a boat with the money and 
started a ferry to New York. Nineteen years later he 
was able to build a stately residence at Stapleton. He 
became a captain and later an owner of steamboats, sub- 
sequently owning steamships. Pie foresaw the promi- 
nent part railroads were destined to play in the develop- 
ment of the country and abandoned water traffic for 
railroad investments. The family now control the New 
York Central and Hudson River Railroad and many 
connecting lines. (See also p. 200). 

On the northwest corner of Fifth avenue and Fifty- 
third street is St. Thomas' Protestant Episcopal Church, 
a wealthy congregation which does a large amount of 
charitable woi'k. The chancel contains a representation 
in bronze of the Adoration of the Cross, by Lafarge. To 
the left hangs Lafarge's picture of the Resurrection; to 
the right Mary meeting the Shining Angels in the Garden, 
also by Lafarge. The entire block on the west side of 
Fifth avenue between Fifty-fourth and Fifty-fifth streets 
is taken up with St. Jjuke's Hospital. On the northwest 
corner of Fifth avenue and Fifty-fifth street is the Fifth 
Avenue Presbyterian Church, of which Rev. Dr. John 
Hall, one of the most noted Presbyterian divines, is 
pastor. On the southwest corner of Fifth avenue and 
Fifty-seventh street is the residence of ex-Secretary 
William C. Whitney, on the southeast corner that of 
Collis P. Huntington, on the noithwest corner that of 
Cornelius Vanderbilt. Central Park begins at Fifty- 
ninth street, the open space beginning at Fifty-eighth 
street being the Plaza. Fifty-seventh street is one of 
the finest residence streets in the city, and it is well 
worth the vistor's while to make a short detour through 
it in either direction from Fifth avenue. At the south- 
east corner of Fifty-seventh street and Sixth avenue is 
the Sherwood Studio building, and between Sixth and 
Seventh avenues the Fine Arts Society's building. On 
Fifty-ninth street, between Sixth and Seventh avenues, 
are the series of apartment houses known in the aggre- 
gate as the "Central Park," but separately named after 
cities of Spain. They form an enormous pile of build- 
ings, and show, perhaps, the largest scale upon which 
structures of this kind have been planned in New York. 



200 

The visitor interested in beeiii<; anotiier typical struc- 
ture of this chiss will find the Dakota, a yellow brick 
pile, on Seventy-second street and Eighth avenue, of 
interest. It is visible from many points in Central 
Park, and in fact is so conspicuous an object that it 
often looms up in the landscape of the upper part of 
the city. 

At Eighth avenue and Fifty-ninth street is the fine 
church and school of the Paulist Fathers, and beyond it 
the Roosevelt Hospital, one of tiie greatest institutions 
of its kind in the city (p. 60). 

College of Physicfans and Surgeons. — Here also 
is the College of Piiysicians and Surgeons of Columbia 
College, a group of buildings which are a donation from 
the late William II. Vanderbilt and his family, and from 
William D. Sloan, Mr. Vanderbilt's brother-in-law. 
They consist of the school building proper, the Vander- 
bilt clinic, and the Sloan Maternity Hospital. On the 
second floor is a fine pathological collection, including 
the Swift Physiological Cabinet, and a large laboratory. 
The fourth floor, which is lighted entirely from above, 
and illuminated by electricity at night, is devoted to 
dissecting. It is fitted up with thirty-six tables, at 
which one hundred and thirty-eight students can dissect 
simultaneously. Smaller rooms for private dissection, and 
for the teaching of operative surgery upon tlie cadaver, 
are grouped around this apartment. The northern portion 
of the building is devoted nearly entirely to laboratory 
purposes. The Vanderbilt Clinic, endowed by sons of 
the late William H. Vanderbilt as a memorial, contains 
a fully equipped dispensary, and, in connection with the 
school, serves as a field for extended clinical instruction. 
It contains a theatre for clinical lectures, illustrated by 
practical work, which accommodates an audience of nearly 
four hundred. The Sloan Maternity Hospital, at the 
corner of Fifty-ninth street and Fifth avenue, adjoining 
the clinic, has a capacity of thirty beds. 

In the vicinity of Central Park and Fifty-ninth street 
ai'e a number of riding schools, the ride through the Park 
being a favorite jaunt for equestrians. The most conve- 
nient of these schools for strangers to visit are DurlaiuVs, 
situated at the Grand (Urcle, near the Eighth avenue 
entrance to Central Park; and Dickers Riding Academy, 



201 

the oldest in the city, at 124 West Fifty-sixth street, 
near Sixth avenue. Between Fifth and Madison ave- 
nues, running through from Fifty-eighth to Fifty-ninth 
street, is the four-story brick structure of the Riding 
Club, a private association with a membership of about 
500, being the largest and most exclusive organization 
of its kind in the country. The club building has ac- 
commodations for 200 horses, and a ring 100x105 feet; 
initiation fee |20; annual dues |100. 

In and near Central Park are three of the greatest in- 
stitutions in the city. The Metropolitan Museum of 
Art in Central Park, near Fifth avenue opposite Eighty- 
third street; the Lenox Library, on Fifth avenue between 
Seventieth and Seventy-first streets; the American Mu- 
seum of Natural History in Manhattan Square, between 
Seventy-seventh and Eighty-first streets, separated from 
Central Park only by Eighth avenue. The visitor who 
wishes to see these institutions thoroughly cannot do so 
by making them incidental to a tour of Central Park. 
They are, therefore, described at this poiut, the tour of 
Central Park being given in Chapter X. 



CHAPTER IX. 



METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART. 

Open every week-day 10 A. M. to 5 P. M., and 
Tuesdays and Saturdays 8 P. M. to 10 P. M. Admis- 
sion free except Mondays and Tuesdays 25 cents, Tues- 
day nights, however, being free. The Metropolitan 
Museum of Art, situated in Central Park near Fifth 
avenue and Eighty-first street entrance, is a plain but 
substantial building leased to the Museum by the city. 

Hand-books. — The collections are not yet completely 
catalogued. There are a brief general guide (10 cents); 
three hand-books of the paintings (10 cents each); a 
hand-book of the drawings, water-colors, photographs 
and etchings (10 cents); of the Oriental Porcelains (10 
cents); and of the Johnston Collection of Engraved 
Gems (15 cents). Many of the important exhibits in the 
various uncatalogued collections are, however, fully 
labeled. 

History. — The first attempt to found the institution 
which has developed into the Metropolitan Museum of 
Art, was made at a meeting of the Union League Club, 
in February, 1869. The matter was referred to the Art 
Committee of the club, which, November 23, 1869, called 
a meeting at the Academy of Music. A committee of 
fifty was appointed, which subsequently was enlarged to 
116. Subsequently a provisional constitution was 
adopted, and at an executive meeting May 14, 1870, a 
special charter which had been secured from the Legis- 
lature, April 13, 1870, was presented, and a permanent 
constitution adopted. John Taylor Johnson, a well- 
known art connoisseur, was elected president. He has 
been a valued adviser and friend of the museum, and is 
now its honorary president. In April, 1871. the Ijegis- 
lature passed the Act by virtue of which the Metropolitan 
Museum of Art occupies its ])resent (juarters, where it may 
continue as long as it complies witli the terms of the lease, 
but which it is at liberty to leave upon giving due notice. 




FIRST FLOOR. 

METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART. 




SECOND FLOOR. 

METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART. 



203 

It moved into tliis building? during March and April, 
1879, having previously occupied buildings respectively 
on Fifth avenue, between Fifty-third and Fifty-fourth 
streets, and on the south side of Fourteenth street, be- 
tween Sixth and Seventh avenues. During the removal 
to the present structure, the trustees carefully superin- 
tended the packing of tlie various objects, doing much 
of the work with their own hands, a fact which illus- 
trates the deep interest they take in the welfare of the 
institution. In December, 1888, the first extension to 
the building was opened, and, as tlie collections in the 
museum are growing at a remarkably rapid rate, another 
is now being erected. 

Membership. — The contribution of $1,000 or more to 
the funds of the Museum at any one time entitles the 
douor to be a Patron. Such person enjoys a Patron's 
right in perpetuity for each sum of $1,000 so contributed, 
and has the privilege of appointing his successor. The 
contribution of $500 at one time entitles the donor to be 
a Fellow in perpetuity, who also has the right to appoint 
his successor. The contribution of $200 at one time 
entitles the donor to be a Fellow for life. Persons may 
become Annual Members at a subscription of $10. 
Patrons, Fellows, and ]M embers are entitled to certain 
desirable privileges. The present officers of the Museum 
are : Presidejit, Henry G. Marquand ; vice-presidents, 
William C. Prime and Daniel Huntington: treasurer, 
Salem II. Wales ; secretary, L. P. Di Cesnola ; libra- 
rian, William N. Andrews. L. P. Di Cesnola is direc- 
tor ; Isaac H. Hall, curator of the Department of 
Sculpture; John A. Paine, curator of the Department 
of Casts; George H. Story, curator of the Department 
of Paintings; and Arthur L. Tuckerman, manager of 
the Art Schools. 

The Metropolitan IMuseum of Art is the most import- 
ant institution of its kind in the United States. In 
wealth and variety of collections it cannot, of course, 
compare with the British Museum, or with several others 
in foreign countries. But when it is considered how 
recent a creation it is, its growth to its present dimen- 
sions is most remarkable. Moreover, it has proceeded 
upon the admirable plan of making such collections as it 
possesses complete of their kind, and it therefore, in 



204 

some details, surpasses all other similar institutions. 
The Cesnola collection, the ghiss and gem collections, 
and tiie collection of Egyptian textiles, for instance, are 
unrivaled; the collection of mummies, though small, is 
varied, and each specimen in it is very tine and inter- 
esting; the collection of Indian idols from New IMexico 
is unique, and the collections of paintings by Dutch 
masters and of the work of the most distinguished modern 
painters are large and important. 

The diagrams show the general arrangement of the 
building. 

The Collections. —The entrance (A) leads into the 
Hall of Casts of Ancient Sculpture (B). Here are re- 
productions of tlie most noted remains of ancient Greek, 
Roman, Assyrian and Egyptian sculpture, all the ob- 
jects being labeled. On the floor of the larger portion 
of the hall, running east and west, are statues of ancient 
sculpture. Around the wall at the top, beginning on 
the west side of the principal entrance, are reproductions 
of famous friezes. Directly opposite the principal en- 
trance (A) is a passage connecting this hall (B) with the 
Hall of Architectural Casts (G). In the alcove (B2) is a 
collection of Renaissance wrought iron. Against the 
pier at the north end is the "Assumption of the Virgin," 
by Luca delta Eobia, and on the sides of the pier are 
photographs of several works of the Delia Robias. The 
"Assumption," a fine example of Luca del la Robia's 
work, was originally in the mortuary chapel of the Prince 
of Piombino and was presented to the Museum by Henry 
G. Marquand, who is also the donor of the wrought iron 
in the alcove. 

Ball of Architectural Casts ((?).— The central exhibit 
in the Hall of Architectural Casts into which this 
passage leads is the superb pulpit from the Cathedral at 
Sienna, the work of Nichola Pisano, 1268 A. D. Facing 
it from the south is the elaborate fayade of the Guild of 
the Butcher's House at Hildesheim, 1529 A. D. Facing 
it from the north is a one-twentieth reproduction of the 
front of the Cathedral Notre Dame, Paris. To the right 
of the pulpit is a superb reproduction of the Parthenon 
exterior and interior with the frieze and sculptures of the 
pediment colored. To the left of the jndpit are, among 
other objects, Bay of Cloisters, St. John Lateran, Rome, 



205 

Twelfth Century A. D. ; Slirine of Saint Sebaldus, 
Nuremberg, Peter Visclier & Sons, 1519 A. D. ; Standard 
Bearer from the plaza of St. Mark's, Venice; Alessann- 
dro Leopardi, 1505 A. D. 

On the north face of the gallery of this hall and con- 
tinued over the eastern half of the south face are casts 
from tiie frieze of the cella of the Parthenon, arranged 
so that the center of the eastern frieze of the Parthenon 
forms the center of the north face of the gallery, the 
whole corresponding as nearly as possible to the position 
of the original on a line from this center. All the 
architectural casts in this hall are purchases made with 
a fund bequeathed to the Museum in 1884 by Levi S. 
Willard. 

The object in this room which will probably strike the ' 
genei'al visitor as most interesting is the large canvas, 
"Diana's Hunting Party," by Hans 3Iakart, on the 
west wall. It was presented by Mrs. Ellen Josephine 
Bancker. It is 31 feet in length by 14 feet in height 
and has become familiar through frequent reproductions. 
Diana and her train have reached the rocky shore of a 
lake in full pursuit of a deer, which has just plunged 
into the water. In spite of the many and important 
accessory figures Diana remains the centi'al object of 
interest. She stands firmly posed upon a rock, her lance 
poised for the throw. Her face, ci'owned with auburn 
hair, is beautiful, but lighted up with the fierce joy of 
the hunt. Of the six nymphs in her ti'ain all but one 
seem impelled by the same savage spirit, the one excep- 
tion being the nymph at Diana's left, who looks up to 
the goddess with a pitying glance, as if pleading for the 
hunted animal. Between the deer*and its pursuers 
seven naiads have swum protectingly, one of them — 
the chief figure in this group — rising far out of the 
water, with her auburn hair streaming down her back 
and her arms high uplifted as if protesting and exposing 
her own fair body to Diana's wt-apon. The nude fornis 
of these naiads follow in their lines the sweeping undu- 
lations of the waves which dash up into the rocky cove. 

Over this canvas and also over the canvases on the 
other w^alls are tapestries by Furguad de Lavergne 
dated 1788. The paintings on the east wall are Benja- 
min Constant's "Justinian in Council," presented by G. 



206 

Mannheimer ; Ludwig Knaus' " Peace," and Gusiav 
Richter's "Victory,'" tlie last two presented by Jacob F. 
Schiff, 

Egyptia7i Antiquities, — The visitor sliould now pro- 
ceed to tlie Hall of Ancient Sculpture and Ej^yptian An- 
tiquities ((') and view the niuniniies and other P]gyptian 
antiquities in this hall and in the room o£ Ancient Terra 
Cottas (F), and then continue his study of the forms of 
ancient burial, as shown in the cases of Egyptian muni' 
mies, by inspecting the fine sarcophagi in the Hall of 
Ancient Statuary, Inscriptions and Bronzes (H). The 
mummies ai'e in two lines of cases, beginning on the 
floor on the west side of the Hall of Ancient Sculpture 
and Egyi)tian Antiquities (C). The specimens are varied 
•and mostly in a fine state of preservation. jMany of them 
are from the sealed tomb of Gourmet-^louriai, discov- 
ered by Maspero in 1886. The student c^n here see the 
mumniy swathed in mummy cloth ; the cartonage which, 
consisting of some 15 to 20 strips of linen gummed to- 
gether, was pressed over the body and tlius made to re- 
produce its contour and even the features of the face; 
the first casket into which the niunnny and cartonage 
were placed, and tiie outer case into whicli the smaller 
one was set. Indeed one exhibit shows even a third 
case. (See below.) The caskets were shaped to conform 
with the figure of the deceased and the carved features 
on the upper lid were a representation of the face of the 
dead. Tiie cases are fully labeled. 

One of the finest caskets in the collection is in case 83, 
which is the fii-st in the line of cases to the left on enter- 
ing from the Hall of Casts of Ancient Sculpture (B). 
This is made of cedar pi'obably from Lebanon, and 
certaiidy not from a less distance than tlie Taurus range. 
Case 79 "forms with case 77. and the casket standing on 
<he top of case 68, the most complete exhibit in the col- 
lection, 79 showing the inner casket and mummy of 
Khelshire from Gebelin, 77 containing the outer casket 
and cartonage, the latter finely preserved, of the same 
mummy, and a second outer casket standing on the to|> 
of 68 We have, therefore, here a complete example of 
tiie Egyptian mode of preserving the dead. On the 
upper shelf of 78 are mummied feet and heads from 
Thebes, showing the appearance of the features and the 



207 

feet several thousand years after they were embalmed. 
Though the features can be easily traced the heads are 
ghastly objects after all, and one cannot help thinking 
that it is preferable to change into a plain white skeleton 
rather than to remain a brown and shrunken mummy. 
In 75 are tlie mummy, cartonage and the wooden figure 
of lounofirte, who, to judge from the liierogliphics on 
the casket and the carved features, must have been a 
young woman of beauty and wealth. Case 73 contains, 
beside an inner casket and mummy, three closets for 
the presei'vation of funerary statuettes, and two boxes 
divided within into four compartments for tlie protection 
of funerary jars. 

The collection of miscellaneous Egyptian antiquities 
begins at case 48 on the west wall of the Hall of Ancient 
Sculpture and Egyptian Antiquities (C). This contains 
one of the largest known collections of funerary statu- 
ettes ("respondents") of porcelain, clay, wood and terra 
cotta. These were buried with the deceased in mummy 
cases and closets, such as are exhibited in case No. 7*8 
above. Those in blue porcelain are from the remark- 
able discovery of tombs of kings and princes of the 
twenty-first dynasty at Deir-El-Bahari. These statu- 
ettes hold in their hands hoes and picks and have 
baskets slung over their siioulders. The belief was tliat 
wiien the deceased entered the Elysian Fields and work 
was demanded of him by the supernatural authorities 
there, these statuettes would rise up and perform the 
labor required of the deceased. This collection of 
statuettes extends through cases 48 to 53 and are from 
the Maspero collection. Other collections represented 
in the Egyptian antiquities are those of J. W. Drexel, 
Jas. Dougia-s, and Farnhain. Besides the statuettes re- 
ferred to, tliere are : In 49 a statuette of an Egyptian 
gentleman, a wooden head-rest showing that the 
Egyptian gentleman had very uncomfortable sleeping 
accommodations ; a mummified Osiris on a block con- 
taining the mummy of a sparrow; in 51 to 53, besides 
funerary statuettes, the fine Egyptian bronzes of the 
Drexel collection, there being on the floor of 51 a 
statuette of Osiris standing upon a hawk-shaped 
coffin containing the mummy of a hawk (the gift 
of R. M. Laimbeer); in 66, top shelf, several mummies 



of cats, and in otlier parts of the case bricks, with 
and without straw, stamped with the cartouche of 
the rulers, chiefly of the eighteenth dynasty, during 
which the Ciiihlren of Israel were captives in Egypt, the 
inference being that some of these bricks were made by 
them. A collection of ancient Egyptian textile fabrics 
will 1)6 found in standards in the Hall of Ancient Statu- 
ary and Egyptian Antiquities (C) and in the Plall of 
Ancient Statuary and Inscriptions and Bronzes (H). 
Many of the specimens are woven in coloied patterns 
and comprise articles of apparel, both plain and orna- 
mental, and mummy cloths, with designs or attached 
borders, which were found at Sakkarah, Faiyum and 
Ahkmyn. They date chiefly from the second to the 
eleventh century of the Chiistian era. The most in- 
teresting standards are those in the Hall of Ancient 
Statuary, Inscriptions and Bronzes (H), which were 
presented to the Museum by George F. Baker, who pur- 
chased them of Emile Brugsch Bey, curator af the 
Boulek Museum, now at Gizeh, Cairo. No 1210, in the 
southwest standard of H, shows what may be the 
earliest pictures of episodes in the life of Christ, as they 
date from the third century A. D. These standards, 
with those in the Hall of Ancient Sculpture and Ancient 
Antiquities, form the most complete collection of its 
kind in tiie world. 

Greek Vases. — There are two small but excellent col- 
lections on this side of the first floor to be disposed of 
before taking up the sarcophagi chiefly from tlie Cesnola 
collection, to which all the other objects in the rooms on 
this side of the building belong, and which, therefore, 
should be considered together. The first of the snuill 
collections referred to consists of very fine specimens of 
Greek vases contained in four large table-cases standing 
on the floor of the Room of Ancient Terra Cottas (F). 
These were discovered at Alexandria, and are admirable 
specimens of Greek art in Egypt. They were probably 
mostly nuide and sold as water jars (hydriae), but, as the 
Greeks cremated their dead and no other strictly funer- 
ary jars could be obtained, hydriae were used for ciner- 
ary purposes and inscribed in ink or scratches with the 
name of deceased and the date of his death. 

On the west center pier between this room and the 



209 

Hall of Ancient Statuary and Egyptian Antiquities is 
the Wai-d collection of clay tablets from Assyria and 
Babylonia, a small but excellent cabinet. 

Hall of Ancient Sculpture, Inscriptions and Bronzes 
(H). — The Sarcophagi in this hall form an interesting 
continuation of the mummy series. No. 6, which stands 
against the east wall in the passage between the Room 
of Ancient Terra Cottas (F) and the Hall of Ancient 
Statuary, Inscriptions and Bronzes (H), is a superb 
marble sarcophagus of Roman workmanship dating from 
1 or 2 A. D., discovered near Rome, the sculpture being 
of the vigorous Roman type. 5 is a Greek sarcophagus 
from Tarsus, presented by Abdodebdas. It is of Roman 
style of the time of the Roman Empire. One side is 
unfinished, showing that it was intended to rest against 
the wall of the tomb. 3 is the casket of a king of 
Cyprus, who reigned al)0ut 600 B. C, found at Golgos in 
Cyprus. On the southern end of this casket is a rep- 
resentation (scul[)tured) of the myth of Perseus and 
Medusa. Perseus has cut off the Medusa's head and is 
making off with it in his wallet. Pegasus and Chrysaor 
spring from the neck of Medusa. Perseus and Medusa 
are of Assyrian features and in Assyrian garb, showing 
the Assyrian origin of a myth which has always been 
attributed to the Greeks. The east side of the casket is 
pure Greek, but is evidently copied, because, although it 
represents only a hunt, those engaged in it are fully 
armed for battle. One of the most interesting of all 
the specimens of sarcophagi is No. 1, as it shows quite 
a remarkable combination of various styles of art, and 
seems to reflect the conflux of nations which, from time 
to time, inhabited Cyprus. It was discovered at 
Amatlius, a Phoenician city of Cyprus, in a tomb 55 
feet below the surface of the soil. A large part of the 
cover is missing, but the rest is in an excellent state of 
preservation. The friezes show not only the Egyptian 
lotus, but also the egg and tongue design of Greek origin. 
The borders at each end are Phoenician, as are the panels, 
the south end showing the Cyprian Venus, a nude 
figure, excepting for the necklace, in her characteristic 
attitude supporting her breasts with her hands. The 
Sphinxes on the pediments are again Greek, as they have 
female heads. There are also Greek figures on the sides, 



210 

among them being warriors in cliariots; the number of 
spokes in the wheels of the cliariots differing, thus con- 
tradicting the theory which was once ingeniously 
advanced that it would be possible to detei-mine the 
relative age of sculpture containing chariots by the 
number of spokes in the wheels, the suggestion being 
that the fewer the spokes the more ancient the piece of 
sculpture, as it would show ruder and more primitive 
methods of manufacturing chariots. 

On the east wall of the northern end of this hall are 
panels of ancient figures and glazed Persian tiles. 
Against the east wall in the north corner are the frag- 
ments of the bronze crabs taken from the base of the 
obelisk (Cleopatra's Needle) now in Central Park. 

Cesnola Collection.— Hay m^ disposed of the other col- 
lections and miscellaneous objects on the eastern side of 
the first floor, it is now possible for the visitor to view sys- 
tematically the Cesnola collection of Cypriot antiquities. 
Cyprus is one of the largest islands in the Mediterranean, 
the Kittim of the Bible. Its first colonists were probably 
the Phoenicians of Tyre; and the most ancient antiquities 
in the Cesnola collection are objects of Phoenician make. 
There were two Egyptian occupations, and the island at 
various times paid tribute to Persia and Assyria, so that 
we have among the antiquities coming immediate] v after 
those of Phoenician origin, Egvptian and Assyrian 
rehcs. From about 333 B. C. until 58 B. C. the island 
was held by the Ptolemies and was then reduced to a 
Roman province. The antiquities of these epochs are 
Archaic Greek, pure Greek and Gra-co-Poman. The 
various divisions of the collection are arranged to show 
the progression from the Phoenician through the Egyp- 
tian and Assyrian, Archaic Greek and Greek to^the 
Gra?co-Roman. These antiquities were discovered by 
General Louis Palma Di Cesnola, wiiile U. S. Consul at 
Cyprus. Soon after he had settled in the consulate at 
Larnaca he became impressed with the thought that as 
Cyprus had been the great central meeting point of the 
ancient races above menl ioned, relics of tiiese races might 
be discovered, and he decided to institute excavations, 
which he conducted with great tact and perseverance. 

Tiie objects excavated wereremarkal)lv well preserved 
owing to the fact that the Cvpriots built their walls of 



211 

mud. In 1874, after the Metropolitan Museum of Art 
had in 1873 acquired the collectionofCypriot antiquities 
made by Cesnola, up to tliat year, he continued his ex- 
plorations on the site of ancient Curium. Discovering 
the mosaic pavement of a temple in that ruined city, he 
sank a shaft some 20 feet below it. Here he found a 
vaulted passage leading to a door, on breaking tlirough 
wliich he entered the treasure chambers of the temple, 
four vaulted rooms containing objects in gold, silver, 
pottery, alabaster and bronze. Piles of silver dishes 
which had become attached to each other by oxidation, 
gave evidence of the richness of the room. These ob- 
jects had great inherent value, but they were even more 
valuable as an illustration of art history, which had been 
a sealed book heretofore. The temple of Curium was 
destroyed certainly as early as G B. C, possibly earlier. 
It is at about this time that the history of Greek art 
commenced, and as the treasures of this temple dated 
back to an earlier period, it will be seen that the dis- 
covery was of impoi'tance from an historical point of 
view, affording as it did a knowledge of Greek art older 
than any yet known. In fact, wlien Gen. Di Cesnola 
opened the doorway at the end of this vaulted passage, 
he opened the entrance to an art history and a history of 
man and of civilization jireceding the earliest known art 
liistory of Greek art, and leading back to the source of 
Greek civilization. Indeed, in the liglit thrown upon 
the origin of Greek art by this collection, the Greeks ap- 
pear as inspired adapters of the art of earlier civiliza- 
tions, rather tiian as originators. The valuable Curium 
treasure was also obtained by the Museum. The authen- 
ticity and integrity of the Cesnola collection was attacked 
and vindicated in court in what is known as the Feuer- 
dent-Cesnola trial, which lasted through November and 
December, 1883. 

Statuary, Inscriptions and Bronzes. — Arrranged in 
the Hall of Ancient Statuary, Inscriptions and Bronzes 
(fl) against the piers on the west side and on the center 
piers, beginning with case 10, is a collection of statuary 
illustrating the various epochs of art represented in the 
Cypriot discoveries — Phoenician to Gra3co-Roman ; No. 
16, in case 11, is an Assyrian statue in a remarkably fine 
state of preservation; No. 19 is a statue, probably of 



21^ 

Heracles, with a lion's skin for a cloak and head-dress; 
No. 22, in case 13, an Assyrian head with wonderfully 
fine sculpturing? of the hair, was borrowed and copied 
by Ruskin. in the east wing of this hall are cases of 
Phcenician, Cypriot and Greek inscriptions. On the 
north wall are the bronzes discovered among the Curium 
treasure, including large cauldrons with ornamental 
handles, vases of great beauty, mirrors, weapons of 
various kinds, tripods, the bit frohi a bridle, and the 
candelabra of a temple. 

Terra Cottas. — In the Hall of Ancient Terra Cottas 
(F) beginning on the north wall, against which sta)id 
cases 1 to 6, are the terra cottas of the Cesnola collec- 
tion, a lai'ge number of pieces of great interest to stu- 
dents. The pieces from 1 to 82 are various representa- 
tions of Venus, beginning with the Semitic Venus or the 
Venus of Cyprus, a nude female figure supporting her 
breasts with her hands (the first examples having animal 
heads), and running the ethnological gamut to pure 
Greek, 82 being a gi-aceful little figure of a Greek Venus 
with a child, very much like a sculptured representation 
of a Madonna and child. Then comes a series of statu- 
ettes of musicians, probably of the temples. The little 
group, 120, seems to represent a judge (in the center) 
watching a sentence executed upon a thief, the lamb 
held by the man on the right probably being the object 
stolen. In the lower part of cases 1 to 6 are larger ob- 
jects of statuary, including 248, a finely preserved Phoeni- 
cian head as shown by the pointed features; and 268, a 
woman's head in pure Greek style. The terra cotta 
heads in these cases are unique as far as size is con- 
cerned. The cases continue from 7 to 13 along the east 
wall of this room. There are, beginning on the upper 
shelf, horsemen from the rudest kind of Phoenician art, 
showing the giraft'e-neck horses such as are found in the 
early pottery of the Cesnola collection, to the fine figure 
418, and the elegantly sculptured horse's head beside it. 
Six pieces, 334 A-F, found in one tomb, evidently illus- 
trate the funeral procession of tiie person buried there. 
In the cases around the piers are a large number of terra 
cotta lamps. 

Sculptures. — The Cesnola collection continues in the 
Hall of Ancient Sculi)lure and Egyptian Antiquities (C). 



213 

There is a line of seven floor-cases on the east side of 
the hall. Remarkable in case 2 is 188, a colossal Assy- 
rian head. It was claimed in the Feuerdent-Cesnola 
trial that the nose was added to this statue, and this 
poor Assyrian gentleman was submitted to the indignity 
of having a hole drilled in his nasal organ. No. 157, 
in case 13, in the line ranged against tiie east wall, is the 
most famous exhibit in the Feuerdent-Cesnola trial. It 
was claimed that General Di Cesnola had att mpted to 
palm this off as a figure of Venus holding a mirror, and 
that the miiror hi\d been taken from some other statu- 
ette and patched upon 157. A sculptor testified that the 
restoi'er had been so enthusiastic in his work that he had 
added a sixth toe to one of the feet, but this was after- 
ward shown to be the string of a sandal. In case 30 are 
various representations of the god Pan. The contents 
of 31 to 32 are chiefly Archaic Greek and Greek heads of 
Artemis. The objects in 33 and 34 are Gra^co-lloman; 
in 85, unclassified. The marbles of the Cesnola collec- 
tion are in 43 and 44, the latter containing a large 
votive ship, from which m.en are being cast overboard to 
sea monsters, found at Tarsus in 1876 and presented by 
John Todd Edgar. Case 45 contains fine alabasters 
from Pliocnician, Egyptian and Greek tombs at Cyprus, 
chiefly from the Curium treasure. In 46 are various 
articles in seipentine and in 47 several green-glazed 
terra cottas, the collection extending to 57, inclusive. 

Pottery. — In order to continue the inspection of the 
Cesnola collection it is necessary to cross the Hall of 
Casts and Ancient Sculpture (B) to the Hall of Glass, 
Laces and Ancient Pottery (D). The collection of pot- 
tery begins in the northwest corner of the Hall, being 
arranged in wall and floor cases, the latter containing 
large vases. The gem of the collection is the large vase 
on the top shelf in floor case 7. This it from the Curium 
treasure, and is known as the Great Vase of Curiu^a. 
It is of brown clay, and covered from top to bottom 
with decorations. In shape it is unique in the co lec- 
tion, being the only jar on a high foot, aiul the only 
vase with four handles. The lid is crowned with a little 
hydria. From irs size and profusion of decoration this 
vase is one of the finest sjiecimens of its class, and in its 
early days must have been a superb work of art. 



214 

Cases 8 ainl 9 around tho northwest pier, and also 10 
against the west wall, contain sinall objects, among' tlieni 
luuneroLis whorls from Cyprus spindles. On the second 
shelf oL* 11 is an object looking liive a cluster of small salt 
cellars. This was probably used for partridge eggs, 
which are still sold as a delicacy in Cyprus in little 
wickers closely resembling in shape this article of ancient 
pottery. In 12 are milk pans; on the third shelf of 18 
near 19 and in 19 several infants' feeding-bottles, per- 
forated so that they could be hung around the neck by 
a string. On the top shelf of 20 are two vases which are 
filled through a hole in the bottom, a funnel extending 
to within a very short distance of the top. In 21 and 22 
are probably the first objects in the collection made with 
the potter's wheel. Two little vases in 25 are arranged 
to show how the trefoil mouth, which has been so much 
praised in Greek vases, originated in Oriental art. No. 
2,800 is a snuiU vase of exquisite shape crowned with an ox 
head. If this ox head were to be cut in two horizontally, 
the snout, ears and back of the head would form a trefoil, 
and in order to show this more clearly a pretty little tre- 
foil vase is placed next to it. On the first shelf of 26 and 
extending along the corresponding shelf to 30, is a series 
of vases having for nozzles a pitcher or jar held by a 
female figure leaning against the neck of a large vase. 
No. 2,283 B in 29 shows thi'ee cups on a hollow pipe at 
different heights, so that water will run from the highest 
into the other two and lastly from the nozzle. Case 30 
contains a vase, ihe top of which is modeled after the 
head and bust of a woman. In 34 are vases on whic'h 
are rudely painted human heads with mouths for noz- 
zles; in 37, vases with trefoil mouths, tiie perfect develop- 
ment of which by the Greeks may be seen in case 43; in 
38 a number of cu[)s, the adaptation of whose shape by 
the Greeks may be seen in 44. One of the gems of the 
collection, a lovely slender ami)hora, stands upon the 
middle of the fourth shelf in 41. Cases 45 and 46 con- 
tain some specimens of Italian potteiy presented by Gen. 
Cesnola to the Museum. 

Olass. — Most of the pieces in the Museum's unequaled 
collection oC ancient glass belong to the Cesnola collec- 
tion. No other nuiseum contains glass dating back to 
800 B. C. like the specimens of Assyrian, Phoenician 



215 

and Egyptian glass in cjise 59, against the eastern cen- 
ter pier of the room. The gem of tiie ancient glass 
collection is in 47. It is of unrivaled iridescence, sup- 
posed to liave been caused by the liquiescence of the 
bodies in the tombs in which the glass was found. 
There ai-e other fine examples of iridescence in the 
collection. The glass, excepting the cabinet dating 
back to 800 B. C, is mostly from 1 B. C. to 1 A. I). 
The Marquand collection of Gra^co-Koman glass begins 
at floor case (32 on the east side of this hall. Probably 
the most valuable piece in tliis case is a yellow cup con- 
spicnous on the top step, which bears an inscription and 
also shows figures of warriors. On the fourth step of 
case 64 is an exquisitely shaped blue vase. In the lower 
parts of these cases are specimens of mediaeval French 
glass, the finest si)ecinien being a cup with a crown and 
fieur-de-lis as a cover, on the west side of case 63. 
Cases 65 and 66 contcun tiie Jarves collection of Vene- 
tian glass. Case 65 dates from 15G0 to ]600, the finest 
specimen being a large yellow vase standing upon the 
coil of a sea serpent. Case 66 dates from 1600 to 1700. 
Ill it is a superb toilet cabinet entirely of glass. Case 
67 dates fi-om 1700 to 1750 and shows a falling off in the 
grade of workmanship. Case 68 dates from 1750 to 1800, 
the naost interesting objects in it being two candelabra. 
Miscellaneous. — Down the center of this hall are 
standards containing a collection of laces, one standard 
presented by Mrs. Robert L. Stuart, and another by 
Mrs. Joim Jacob Astor. On the center pier between 
this hall and the Room of Carved Wood and Mnsical 
Instruments (E) is a case of shrines, a b'^quest of 
Mrs. A. M. Minturn. Tlie Room of Carved W^ood and 
Musical Instruments contains a remarkable exhibition 
of the latter, conqwsed of the Joseph W. Drexel and J. 
Crosby Brown collections, consisting of antique and 
modern musical instruments of gi-eat variety in construc- 
tion and nationality, many of them Oriental and aborigi- 
nal, all of them being ethnologically arranged, and 
thoroughly labeled. Besides the instruments tliere are in 
this room a finely carved clock of English work, dated 
1640, a valuable cabinet inlaid with Oriental poi-celains, 
and a case of drawers and shelves, to which a gold medal 
at the Centennial Exhibition of 1876 was awarded, it be- 



216 

ing mentioned in the Committee's report as the most 
elegant piece of wood carving and designing in the Ex- 
position. It was presented by August Pottier. North 
of this room is the Hall of Modern Sculpture (T), which 
contains several notable examples of the work of Ameri- 
can and European sculpture, among them a cast of 
liarye's '' Lion and Serpent." 

Staircases. — There are staircases (K) at either corner 
of the Hall of Ancient Statuary (H) and of the Hall of 
Modern Sculpture (I). These latter are respectively the 
southwest and northwest stairways. Tlie southwest 
stairway is hung with Fagnani's pictures of the Nine 
Muses, which are portraits of New York women, and 
with ten other paintings, of which 19 is Murillo's 
"Holy Family," the picture known as the "Brevoort 
IMurillo," presented by the late John Jacob Astor J5risted, 
The southeast stairway has, among a number of old 
masters, a fine example of Antonio PolJajuolo (Floren- 
tine School, 1438 to 1498), "St. Christopher and the 
Infant Christ " (110), cut from the walls of the chapel 
of the Michelozzi Villa and presented to the Museum by 
Cornelius Vanderbilt, and the " Head of a Cherub." by 
Correggio (111). Among the paintings on the northeast 
stairway is Rahen's " Lions Chasing the Deer " (120). 

Paintings. — The fine collection of paintings by both 
old and modern masters which is owned by the Museum, 
is distributed through various galleries on tlie second 
floor, and in arranging the descriptions thereof, it has 
been thought best to conduct tlie visitor consecutively 
through the galleries in wliich are hung the modern 
paintings (the most interesting to the general public) 
and then througli those which contain examples of the 
old masters. The visitor will find the most noted of the 
modern paintings in the old western gallery U, which is 
reached from either of the staircases on the western side. 
The southern end of this gallery is filled with 78, the 
" Horse Fair." by Rosa Bonheu?', presented by Cornelius 
Vanderbilt, in 1887. It was first exhibited at the Paris 
Salon in 1853, but it did not find a purchaser. In 1855 
she offered to sell it to Bordeaux, lier native town, for 
12,000 francs ($2,400). The town refusing to purchase 
it, she sold it to Gnmbert for 40,000 francs, painting for 
him a quarter-size replica, from which Thomas Landseer 



217 

made the famous engraving. Gambert sold the original 
ill 1857 to William P. Wright, of New York, for 80,000 
francs. In 1870 he offered to re-purchase it for 50,000 
francs, but the offer was refused. Wlien the Wright 
collection was sold the picture was bought by A. T. 
Stewart, and at the sale of his collection it was purchased 
by Mr. Vanderbilt for $53,500. The replica from which 
the engraving is made, is now in the National Gallery at 
London. A second, still smaller replica, brought on its 
last sale $20,000, and a still smaller water color drawing 
of it, $12,000. Another of the modern masterpieces in 
this gallery which is among the first pictures of the col- 
lection to be sought out by visitors, is 71, Ileissonier^ s 
" Friedland, 1807," which hangs between the doors of 
llie west wall. It was presented to the Museum by 
Henry Hilton, in 1887, having been purchased bv him 
for $66,000 at the Stewart sale. The beholder can hardly 
fail to be impressed with the magnificent swing of horses 
and riders as the regiment of cuirrasiers dashes past 
Napoleon I in review on its way to battle. The horses 
seem almost as if they might leap pell mell from the 
canvas into the open. Meissonier writing to Mr. 
Stewart, January 7, 1876, says : 

" I did not intend to paint a battle— I wanted to paint Napo- 
leon at the acme of his glory— I wanted to paint the love, the 
atloi-ation of the soldiers for the great Captain in whom they 
had faith, and for whom they were ready to die. * * * ^g 
to the execution, only a painter (and one of great experience) 
can say what time labor and patience have "oe^n brought to bear 
upon tills work to produce a single whole out of so many di- 
verse elements. The growing wheat is even proof of the diffi- 
culties I have encountered in covering it with the dust which 
hides so many things." 

A third work apt to attract attention is 93, Detaille's, 
the " Defence of Champigny," a spirited battle scene, 
for, although the enemy is not visible, his nearness is 
felt. Groups of officers and soldiers, sappeurs making 
embrazures in the wall, barricadiers, artillerists placing 
guns in position, and the spirited detail on the balcony, 
all combine to make this a notable canvas full of the 
fierce energy and action of war. It was also presented 
by Mr. Hilton. There are several other notable paint- 
ings in this gallery, among them Fortuny's portrait of 
"A Spanish Lady in Black," a picture of surpassing 
grace and a model of portraiture, on the west wall be- 



218 

tween the door and the north wall. Next to it is 76, 
DannaVs " Un Quatiior" (A Quartette), a capital work, 
presented by Mrs. Wm. H. Dannat. The oldest of the 
singers,^ evidently the basso, sits on a bench singing 
away in an unemotional style, as if his duty consisted 
solely in producing a certain amount of sound. A hand- 
some young girl beside him, though evidently weary, is 
trying to force a professional smile. The tenor stand- 
ing behind leans gracefully against the wall, and tenor- 
like is smiling while singing as if flirting with some fair 
listener. 128, at the southern end of the west wall, 
L' Hermit fe's, "The Vintage," presented by William 
Schaus, shows a robust young woman resting her kindly 
look upon a vigorous boy half recumbent upon the 
ground devouring grapes, while a bronzed man and a 
hale old woman are busy cutting bunches from the 
vines. The broad, vigorous treatment of the figures and 
vineyard is admirable. About opposite thisisBaixe7-as\s, 
*' Boatmen at Barcelona" (105), presented by George I. 
Seney, a group of gossiping old salts, so true to life that 
you can even picture the features of the one whose face is 
turned away. 89 and 96 are capital little sheep scenes 
by Mauve, the wool being delightfully thick and 
soft looking, while 86, Clairhi's "Moorish Sentinel," 
bequeathed by Stephen Whitney Phoenix, may be 
pointed out as a fine example of rich coloring. Prom 
this gallery the visitor shoukl pass into V to the west. 
The most striking canvas in this gallery hangs on the 
north wall, 41, Francois Auguste Bonneur, " Woodland 
and Cattle," with its flood of beautiful light, presented 
by James Clinch Smith and his sisters. Next to this in 
interest is 32, LeroU&s " Organ Rehearsal," presented by 
George I. Seney, a large canvas, which has all the disen- 
chantment of a peep behind the scenes. Among other 
])ictures in this gallery is Pilutifs "Thusnekla at the 
Triumphal Entry of Germanicus into Rome," painted to 
order for the late A. T. Stewart and presented by Horace 
Russell. Before being sent to tiiis c<mntry it was ex- 
hibited in Berlin at the request of Emperor William I, 
and a large replica of it hangs in the Munich Gallery. 
The principal figure is the proud Thusnelda, with her 
little son. 

From this gallci-y the visitor should jiroeeed to the 



219 

galleries containing the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe col- 
lection of paintings (S and K), which are reached 
through the Gallery of Memorials of Washington, 
Franklin and Lafayette. 

Miss Wolfe, who bequeathed the collection to the 
Museum, was the daughter of Jolni David Wolfe, who 
at the tiiue of his death was President of the American 
jMuseum of Natural History in New York. Beginning 
in Gallery S the most noteworthy canvases are: 1 — 
The fine portrait of Miss Wolfe by Cahanel, painted 
from sittings at Paris in 1876, showing an intellectual 
face set upon a slender, aristocratic figure. 15 — Bo7inat, 
"Egyptian Fellah Woman and Child," a woman with a 
wondet-fully pathetic face, bearing upon her shoulders a 
slee[)ing child whose head rests on hers. 16 — Breton's, 
'•Returning from tlie Christening." 18 — Munkacsy, 
"A. Pawnbroker's Shop." 19 — ViherVs "The Repri- 
mand," full of the painter's capital humor. 20 — Bargue, 
•' A Bashi Bazouk," a fine example of rich though sub- 
dued coloring. 22 — Troyon, "Holland Cattle." 25 — 
3Ierle, "Falling Jjeaves," a lovely figure of a girl half 
d raped i!i black gold striped gauze. 27 — Rosa Bonheur, 
"Weaning the Calves." 28 — Kaulbacli, "Crusaders 
Before Jerusalem," an allegorical i)ainting, the inten- 
tion of tlie arlist being to express symbolically the idea 
1 hat Christianity is the religion of the universe. 30 — 
Lefebvre, "Graziella, a Girl of Capri." 32 — Kaermnerer, 
"Study of a Girl's Head," full of this artist's character- 
istic chic. 33 — Madrazo, "Girls at a Window," a co- 
quetish bit. 30 — Piloty, "Parable of the Wise and 
Foolish Virgins." 44 — Schreyer, " Arabs on the March." 
45 — Le Boux, " Ronum Ladies at the Tomb of their 
Ancestors," a strong little canvas. 48 — Gerome, " Pra^'er 
in a Mosque; old Carlo." 51 — Cot, "The Storm," a 
powerful canvas, showing sheep huddling together in a 
wild winter storm. 53 — Rousseau, " River Landscape." 
m—Corot, "Ville d'Avary." &l— Troyon, "Study of 
a White Cow." 

Gallery R: 63 — 3Ieissonier, "The Brothers Adrian 
and William Van de Velde." 64 — Gerome, "Boy of 
the Biscluiri Tribe." 68 — Breton, "A Peasant Girl 
Knitting." 69— Couture, "The Idle Student." 74— 
Breton, " Religious Procession in Britany," perhaps the 



220 

most interesting painting in the collection, with spare, 
wiry figures of peasants, wearing the trunk hose of the 
sixteenth century, their features thin yet bronzed and 
strong; and lines of peasant women and girls looking on 
as the procession passes. 76 — Defregger, ''German 
Peasant Girl." 79 — Bouguereau, " Brother and Sister." 
84 — Meismnier, "A General and Adjutant.'" 92 — 
Dupre, ''The Old Oak." M—Detaille, "Skirmish be- 
tween Cossacks and tiie Imperial Body Guard, 1814." 
95— Fernet "Horses." 101— T'7^*er^, "The Startled 
Confessor." 102 — Henner, "A Bather," one of this 
artist's characteristic nudes. 106 — 3Iax, " The Last 
Token," the popular painting, familiar from numerous 
reproductions, of a young girl about to suffer Christian 
martyrdom in the Colosseum looking up as if to discover 
whose friendly hand dropped the flower that has fallen 
at her feet. Ill — Cahanel, "The Shulamite Woman," 
full of eager expectation. 113 — 31eyer Von Bremen, 
"The Letter." 115 — Kiiaus, " Repose of the IIolv Family 
iu Egypt." 116— i^o?/&e^, "The Game of Cards." 118— 
Willems, ' ' Preparing for the Promenade. " 119 — Benie- 
BeUecour, "Soldier in the Trenches." 122 — Falero, 
"Twin Stars." 123— Do? e, "The Retreat from Mos- 
cow." 136 — Bida, "The Massacre of the Mamelukes." 
137 — Leloir, "Wandering Minstrel, Old Nureniburg." 
138 — Meissonier, "The Sign Painter." 140 — Leloir, 
" In His Cups." 141 — Boughton, " A Puritan Girl," the 
last-named painted on wood, the preceding three being 
water colors. 

In order to continue with the collections of modern 
paintings, the visitor should next proceed to Gallery X. 
Anu)ng tlie paintings hung here are usually such as are 
loaned to the Museum, whicii nuiy be either old or 
modern. Some very noted pictures iiave, from time to 
time, been loaned to the i\[uscum. The last most nota- 
ble collection hung iu this gallery was that loaned by 
H. 0. Ilavemeyer, consisting of fourteen masterpieces, in- 
cluding three portraits by Rembrandt, among them the 
famous " Gilder." Among modern paintings belonging 
to the Museum in this gallery are: 34 — Bastien Le Page, 
"Joan of Arc," one of the most notable modern can- 
vases in tlie Museum, showing Joan of Arc before she 
became her country's savior, her face that of a homely 



221 

peasant gii-1, but lighted up with the fire of exaltation 
and the si)irit of propiiecy, while in the background are 
tlie shadowy figures of her future; 57 — Messerschmitt, 
" Wallenstein's Camp," a scene in the spring of 1635, 
representing an episode in the war of the Reformation 
in Austria and Hungary; 64 — Brozik Vacslav, ''Colum- 
bus at the Court of Ferdinand and Isabella," a large 
canvas presented by Morris K. Jesup, it being most fit 
that it should hang in tliis Museum, as it represents the 
beginning of American history, showing Columbus 
after his repulse by other European States resorting to 
the Court of Spain, where Isabella offers her jewels to 
defray the expense of the expedition, the Moorish wars 
having exhausted the Spanish treasury. The contract 
between Ferdinand and Columbus is about to be signed. 
To the east of this gallery is Gallery Y, which is de- 
voted to the fine collection of old masters, chiefly Dutch, 
which extends into Gallery 0. Most noteworthy in Gal- 
lery Y are: 4—Greuze (early French), Study for a Head 
in the "Father's Curse." b -Karel De Moor, "The 
Burgomaster of Leyden and his Wife." 7 — David 
Teniers, the younger, " The Marriage Festival," a small 
canvas containing no less tiuih seventy-three figui-es. 
11 — Trumbull, " Portrait of Alexander Hamilton," pre- 
sented by H. G. Marquand, an excellent example of this 
early ^Vmerican painter's work, and considered worthy 
by the curator of being hung among ])ortraits by Dutch 
masters. 18 — Adiienne De Vrles, " Portrait of a Dutch 
Gentleman." 23 — Aart De Gelder, "Portrait of a Dutch 
Admiral," full of healthy vigor. 30 — Sir Joshua Reyn- 
olds, " Portrait of the Honorable Henry Fane and his 
(jtuardians. Inigo Jones and Ciuules Blair." This fine 
exam[)le of the great English porlrait painter's work was 
juvsented l)y tiie late Junius S. Morgan, of Eondon. 35 
— Bonifacio^ "The Musical Party," a decorative can- 
vas of the Venetian School, looking as if intended for 
part of a frieze; presented by Morris K. Jesup. 48 — 
Jordaens, " The Visit of St. John to the Infant Jesus," 
one of the most notable canvases in the Museum, being 
among the finest known paintings by this artist. It is 
wonderfully rich and glowing in color, a style for which 
Jordaens was noted. The babies ai'e (duibby, healthy 
and very Dutch looking. 51 — Franz Hals, " Hille Bobbe 



223 

Voii Haarlem. " a vigorous little canvas. 52 — Rtihens, 
"Portrait of the Artist's Wite." QS— Gilbert Stuart, 
" Portrait of John Jay," an interesting examitle of the 
early American School. 77 — Attributed to Caravaggio. 
Italian School of the seventeenth century, "St. Francis of 
Assissi," notable for the beautiful light on the upturned 
face. 78 — Vcm Dijck, "St. Martha interceding with 
God for a cessation of the plague at Tarascon." 92 — 
Nicholas Poussin (French), mythological subject. 93 — 
Gilbert Stuart, "Washington," painted at Washington, 
D. C, 1803; presented by Henry 0. Havemeyer. 

To reach Gallery 0, in which the balance of this collec- 
tion is hung, it is necessary to cross the Gallery of 
American Antiquities (P). The paintings in were pre- 
sented by Henry G. Marquand. Most notable are: 3 — 
Terburg, "Portrait of a Gentleman." 4 — Velasquez, 
"Olivares," a three-quarters left portrait of a man in 
black, a fine example of this great Spanish artist. 14 — 
Velasquez, a fine portiait of himself, three-quarters left 
with black hair, dark habit, and narrow linen collar. 
19 — Gainsboroiigh (English), "Landscape." A broad, 
luminous, ricldy wooded landscape glowing with color 
and aninud life. 20 — Leonardo da Vinci, "Portrait of 
a Lady." 21 — Rembrandt, "Portrait of a Man." A 
head or three-quarters portrait of a maii wearing a black 
slouclied hat and dressed in a rich golden brown gabar- 
dine, tlie entire figure standing out softly yet plaiidy on 
a luminous background. A mellow brown light is 
diffused over the whole canvas. 22 — Franz Hcds, 
"The Smoker," executed in the same bold and impres- 
sionist style as 51 in Gallery X. The numerical se- 
quence is here broken by the hanging next to 22 of 43, 
Franz Ilah, "Portraits of Two (Gentlemen," a most 
beautiful piece of portraiture, very different in treat- 
ment from No. 22, and its com[)aiiion-pi"ece, showing 
great refinement of workmanship, the canvas being 
a model of its kind. 23 — llubens, "Susanna and the 
holders." Susanna, half nude, is seen in a crouching 
attitude near a fountain. The Elders, one of them 
climbing over a stone balustrade, the othei- holding on 
to the branch of an apple tree, gaze eagerly upon the 
alarmed maiden. The Susanna is a portrait of Kubens' 
second wife, Helen Fourment, whom he frequently used 



228 

as a model. She is also shown in 52, Gallery Y. 25 — 
Hogarth (English), "Miss Rich Building- a House of 
Cards," the portrait of a charmingly frank looking 
young girl dressed in white. 27 — Ruysdael, "Land- 
scape," in subdued yet rich colors. 28 — Velasquez, 
"Portrait of Baltasar Carlos," eldest son of Phillip IV. 
29 and ?yQ—Remhrandt, 29, tlie "Portrait of a JVlan ;" 
30, the " Adoration of tiie Sliepherds," a picture similar 
to that in the National Gallery, London, with, however, 
a few differences. 31 — Gainsborough, "A Girl with a 
Cat." 32— Turner (English), "Saltash," painted about 
1812-14, showing the RiverTamar in the foreground, with 
a barge moored at a dock oti the left, and on the right 
a boat drawn on shore. On the wall at the right of 
the large beer-house, shown in the picture, is scrawled : 
"England expects every num to do his duty." Througli 
a square gateway in the building a street is seen. The 
canvas is enlivened by groups of men, women, children, 
sailors and horses. 33 — Reynolds, "Lady Carew," a 
charmingly simple and deliglitful portrait of a maiden 
in a grayish white dress open at the neck, her head 
turned three-quarters to the left, her hair arranged in a 
coil. 35 and 36 — i??«&en,s, "Py ramus and Thisbe" and 
"Portrait of a Man." 37 — Constable, " A Lock on the 
Stour," a capital example of this English painter. 38 — 
Van Dyke, "James Stuart, Duke of Richmond and 
Lennox," probably as fine an exam]:)le of Van Dyke's 
style of portraiture as can be found, and wortliy of pro- 
longed study. 39 — Constable, " The Valley P'arm." 

Drawings and Etchings. — Gallery leads through 
Gallery N into Gallery L and its alcove M, containing 
drawings, water-color paintings, photographs and etch- 
ings. The collection of drawings is composed of two 
portions: the first, Nos. 1 to 670, was begun in the 
latter part of the last century by Count Maggiori, of 
Bologna, a learned scholar and connoisseur and a mem- 
ber of the Academy of Sciences in that city, and has 
been gradually increased by additions from collections 
of Senior Marietta, Professor Angelini, Doctor Guastalla 
and Mr. James Jackson Jarves, from whom it was pur- 
chased in 1880 and presented to the Museum by Cor- 
nelius Vanderbilt. The other portion, Nos. 671 to 851, 
was collected by Cephas G, Thompson and by him pre- 



224 

Rented to the Museum in 188T. The whole forms a very 
fine collection of its kind. Many of tiie drawings are 
small, some of tliem perhaps nothing more tiian sketches 
for larger works or of works which were never carried 
out, but each will well rei»ay study. Here are found many 
names of old masters — Caravaygio, Anch-ea Puzzo, Carlo 
Lota, Raphael, Benvenuto Cellini, Salviati, Michael 
Angela, Leonardo da Vinci, Andrea del Sarto, Mun- 
tegna, Domenichino, Caracci, Guercino, Ouido Herd, 
Salvator Rosa, Paul Veronese, Titian, Tintoretto, Rem- 
brandt, Van Dyke, Ruhens, David Teniers, younger and 
elder, Durer, Marillo, Correggio, Velasquez, Cortese, 
Watteau, Callot, Claude Lorraine and Greuze. The 
collection is arranged in standards and also along the 
wall, beginning on the northwest wall. Above them, on 
the wall opposite the alcove, is a sketch of Chavannes' 
"Symbolical Figure of the Sorbonne." 'J'he water- 
colors in the alcove are by William P. Richards, and 
there are besides these a Ciollection of steel engravings 
and etchings, the latter extending into the main room, 
and a case of war medals and decorations. With this 
gallery and its alcove the collection of paintings, draw- 
ings and prints is ended and there remain now the mis- 
cellaneous collections on this floor. 

Engraved Gems, etc. — Gallery Q contains the fine 
King-Johnston collection of Engraved Gems (presented 
by John Taylor Johnston), which is arranged in cases 
along the west wall, the collection of Assyrian cylinders 
with an impression of each along the north wall between 
the doors. On the east wall is the fine 3Ioses- Lazarus 
collection of fans, snufT-boxes, painted medallions, etc., 
and against the south wall the Curiam Treasure 
discovered by General Di Cesnola in the Temple at 
Curium, Cyprus. In the center of the room in eight 
large cases is the collection of Mediaeval and Historic 
Engraved Gems loaned by Maxwell Somerville. A 
series of wall cases above the Curium treasure contains 
a collection of Ancient and Mediceval Spoons loaned by 
Mrs. S. P. Avery, and following these is a cabinet con- 
taining largely Jewelled Watches presented by Mrs. Lucy 
W. Drexel. In the northeast corner case is, besides the 
Hryaiit vase, a fine specimen of Tiffany's workmanship, 
presented to the poet on his 80th birthday, a gold medal 



225 

struck by tlie King of Italy in 1882 in honor of General 
Cesnola; in the northwest corner case, a cabinet of 
objects fiom the celebrated Deniidoff Collection, also 
the Battersea J^7iamels, presentGd by Henry G. Marquand, 
and gold and silver South American relics ; in the 
southwest corner ease, two large Sevres vases, which the 
unfortunate Louis XVI of France sold through Gouver- 
neur Morris to Doctor Hosack; in the southeast corner 
case, silver objects from the Cesnola collection and pieces 
of Peruvian silver from the spoils of the Pizarro con- 
quest. The Curium treasure along the south wall 
brings the Cesnola collection to a rich and fitting close: 
Case 1 — Gold cups in Phoenician, Assyrian and Grecian 
style. Case 2 — Silver and gold-plated bracelets, ear- 
rings, dagger hair-pins and necklaces. Case 3 — Gold 
necklaces and bracelets. Case 4 — Gold ear-rings and 
rings. Case 5 — Gold ear-rings, brooches and various 
mortuary and votive ornaments. Case 6 — Seal rings 
with engraved gems. 

Gallery T contains a large number of interesting 
memorials of Washington. Franklin and Lafayette; 
Gallery Z, a remarkably choice and varied collection of 
Japanese and Chinese objects of art, the most important 
of them being labeled. Part of the collection was loaned 
by Rufus E. Moore, the other part bequeathed by 
Stephen Whiteney Phoenix. The general visitor will 
probably be most interested in the superb cabinet of 
swords, which stands against the balustrade of the gal- 
lery. Gallery W contains a large collection of Oriental 
porcelain, chiefly Chinese. The choicest pieces are in 
cases against the balustrade; the rest in wall cases. 
Gallery N has reproductions of gold and silver work, 
chiefly from the treasures of St. Petersburg. 

American Antiquities. — In Gallery P, is a collection 
of American antiquities. The table cases on this floor 
hold a unique collection of Indian idols, obtained in 
Sew Mexico, by L. Bi-adford Prince. The idols on the 
west side are still in use among the Indians of New 
Mexico, and it is considered a death offense to betray 
their secrets, so that Mr. Prince had to pledge himself 
never to divulge the name of the person or persons from 
whom he obtained these idols and the secret of their 
worship. It has always been supposed that since the 



2^6 

Spanish conquest the Indians of Xew Mexico have been 
^ood Christians, but here we have evidence of idolatry 
flourisiiini? in secret among tiiem. These deities are 
arranged in groups of seven each, each group represent- 
ing a family of gods. For instance 24 and 20 are hus- 
band and wife, while the five smaller objects, 30 to 37, 
are their children, 

LENOX LIBRARY. 

Admission free. Open every week-day, except Mon- 
day, from 11 A. M. to 4 P. M. On Fifth avenue between 
Seventy and Seventy-first streets. Endowed by the late 
James Lenox, a bibliophile of rare taste and an art con- 
noisseur. It was incorporated in 1870, and the massive 
limestone building in classic style was first opened to vis- 
itors in January, 1877. The general visitor will i)robably 
be most interested in the picture gallery on the second 
floor. A catalogue of the collection is on sale at fifteen 
cents. Directly opposite the entrance to the gallery on the 
north wall hangs the most conspicuous portrait in the 
collection. No. 70, Gilbert Stucwt's portrait of George 
Washington, a full-length painted for Peter Jay Monroe 
in 1799. Washington is standing. He is clad in black. 
The fingers of his right hand rest firmly on a table. His 
left foot is slightly forward. The pose is strong and dig- 
nified. Grouped around this portrait are: 56 — James 
Pea^e, half-length portrait of Washington in uniform; 
84 — Portrait of Wasliington copied from the portrait by 
Charles Wilson Peale in Arlington House, painted in 
1773. 85 — Rembrandt Peale, Portrait of Washington. 
Besides these Washington Portraits, there hang in this 
group: 65 — Oilbert Stuart, Head of Mrs. Robert Morris. 
64 — Sir Joshua Reynolds (Fjwg^M'sh), Portrait of Edmund 
Burke (probably a copy). 99 — S. B, Morse, Portrait of 
Lafayette, painted in Washington from sittings in the 
month of February, 1825, presented by Wm. H. Osborn. 
74 — Charles R. I^eslie, Portrait of Washington Irving. 
147 — Portrait of John Milton, formei-ly in the possession 
of Chas. Lamb, presented by Robert Lenox Kennedy. 
73 — Landseer, "Study of a White Horse."' 137 — 
Jimenez, "A Spanish Cafe." Noteworthy pictures on 
the right of this group are: 52 — Horace Vernet, ''Siege 
of Saragossa,"a i)0werful canvas. 52 — Fred, de Braek- 



227 

leei\ the elder, "Mid-Lent in a School." 59 — Salentln, 
" Tiie Reception of a Young Prince," the contrast be- 
tween the diffident curiosity of the lads and the assur- 
ance of the young prnice being capitally brought out. 
The most conspicuous painting on the north wall is, 
146 — Munliacsy, " Milton Dictating Paradise Lost to his 
Daughters," too well known through its reproduction as 
an etching, and in various periodicals, to require descrip- 
tion. Presented by Robert Lenox Kennedy. It is flanked 
on the left by 148 — Henry Raehurn, Portrait of a gen- 
tleman; on the left by 103 — Sir Joshua Reynolds, A 
charming picture of a boy in a red velvet dress 
leaning forward on a green cushion, holding pen and 
paper in his hand. From the collection of Philip 
Metcalf, Reynold's executor. Otlier noteworthy paint- 
ings on this wall are: 83 — Huhner, "The First 
Grandchild." 92 — Daniel Huntiiigfon, after Trumhull, 
Alexander Hamilton. 43 to 47 — Sketches by Sir David 
Wilkie. 97 — Daniel Huntington, Christopher Columbus. 
On tne south wall is 101 — Sir Joshua Reynolds, Mrs. 
Billington as St. Cecilia, a beautiful full-length portrait 
of this famous singer with a choir of angels fluttering 
around her and singing to the music of lier voice. Mrs. 
Billington had a great admirer in Haydn. On seeing 
this picture in Reynold's studio as it was nearing com- 
pletion, the great composer, eyeing it critically, re- 
marked: "You painted it wrong." Mrs. Billington 
looked annoyed, and the artist, greatly displeased, 
asked : "In what respect?" " Why," said Haydn, "the 
angels should have been listening to Mrs. Billington, in- 
stead of Mrs. Billington listening to the angels." Upon 
this, Mrs. Billington jumped up and gave the composer 
a hug and a kiss. Next to this picture hangs on the 
right, 34— J". 31. W. Turner, " Staft'a, Fingal's Cave," a 
canvas most characteristic of this master, especially in 
the wonderful confluxion of the waves in a heavy sea. 
It was bought from the artist for Mr. Lenox in August, 
1845. On the left, 32— j; M, W. Turner, "A Scene on 
the French Coast," with an English ship-of-war stranded, 
in which a gorgeous sunset is represented in the smooth 
jiiirror-like wet sand and water. Other paintings on 
this wall are: 100 — Sir Joshua Reynolds, Portrait of 
Miss Kitty Fisher, with doves. Miss Kitty's attitude is 



2-28 

chai'iiiing ns slie liolds out licr hand for another dove to 
alight. 148 — Sir Henry liaehurn, Porti-ait of Lady 
Belhavcn; and 105 — Gilbert Stuart Neivton, "The Dull 
Lecture." On tlie west wall over the door is 138 — 
Valati, " A Boar Hunt on the Campagna." To the left 
of the door, 118 — Escosura, " The Parrot Dealer at the 
Chateau of Blois," time of Louis XIII. 133 — Samacois, 
"The Court Fool," a portrait of the painter. 110 — 
Original sketch of part of the "Blind Man's Buff," Sir 
David Wilkie. To the right of the door, 86 — Andrea 
del Sarto, " Tobit and the Angel," one of the most note- 
worthy canvases in the collection. A collection of sculp- 
tures is in the vestibule. 

The collection ol* rare books in the hall to the north of 
the vestibule, on the ground floor, is the richest in this 
country, and is especially noteworthy in Bibles, many 
of these being Incunabula, or specimens of the first prod- 
ucts of the art of printing. There are also remarkable 
collections of Shakespeareana, Miltoniana, and editions 
of Bimyans " Pilgrim's Progress," and of Elliot Indian 
Bibles. On the extreme right of the south wall is the 
alcove of porcelains. Adjoining this and extending to 
the doorway are, in three small cases, nine copies of the 
first edition of Milton's " Paradise Lost,"' with variations 
in the title; the first edition of 3Iilton''s "Comus," 
"Lycidas," and "Poems"; and his polemic "Pro 
Populo Anglicano Defensio et Eikonoclastes," and the 
proclamation of the King, dated August 13, 16(iO, 
directed against this work. In the doorway itself are 
six small cases containing choice works. Arranged in 
three cases along the southern wall of the room, to the 
right of the door on entering, are rare editions of Shakes- 
peare, in the first case, two copies of the First Folio, 
with two titles, respectively 1622 and 1623, the latter 
being the so-called Litchfield copy mentioned by Dibdin ; 
beginning in the first case, and extending through the 
second, seven copies, each with variations of the Secofid 
Folio, 1632; in the third case, two copies of the Third 
Folio, 1663-64, and two of the Fourth Folio, 1685. In 
all the cases are early editions of single plays. 

The collection of Bibles is contained chiefly in two 
rows of four cases each, placed back to back, extending 
from tlie extreme left down the middle of the room to a 



229 

point opposite the entrance. In the first ease is the 
" 3Iazarin " or " Guilenherg Bible,^'' printed by Gutten- 
berg, probably with the assistance of Fust, at 3Iainz, 
1450-1455, and probably the first book printed from 
movable type, a work valued at about $30,000. Among 
Latin Bibles, in case 2 is one printed at Nuremburg by 
Anto7iius Korberger, 1477, with commentaries, emen- 
dations, and interlineations in the handwriting of 
3Iela7ichthon; in case 4, Coverdale's Bible (1535), the first 
complete Bible printed in England; in case 1, at the head 
of the north line, a Bible printed by Johann Zainer, Ulm, 
1450, the first with summaries at the heads of chapters; 
in case 2, Block Bibles and other block books (printed 
from carvings in wood), among the Bibles the first and 
second editions of Biblia Pauperum, the only known 
examples of Italian xylographic work. In this case is 
also the only perfect copy of the sixth and rarest edition 
of "Sancti Johannis Apocalypsis," consisting of forty- 
eight leaves of xylographic printing. In case 4, New 
Testament, London, by Robert Barker, the first 12-mo 
edition of King James' version, and the only copy of it 
known; Ty7idaWs "New Testament," 1536, the first 
))ortion of the Scilptures in English printed on English 
ground; and CoverdaWs "New Testament," the first 
edition separate from the Bible. 

The Bibles are continued in the alcove of the middle 
of the north wall. In the second case is, " Torquemada 
on the Psalms," Mainz, by Schoeffer, 1476, the first book 
printed with a date ; in the third case the " Wicked^' 
Bible, London, 1631, and the German " Wicked^^ Bible, 
Halle, 1731. both open at the page showing the version 
of the 7th Commandment to which they owe the epithet 
" Wicked"; the,^r5^ edition oi the " Pilgrim's Progress," 
part 1st, London, 1678, only one other copy being known; 
also the Jirsc edition of the second part; the earliest 
extant edition of the "New England Primer," Boston, 
112,11 ; and the only \ii\o'^nco\)Y oii\\e first edition oi the 
Psalms in " Meeter " by Rous, London, 1641, a work 
which Scottish writers have declared never existed ; 
fourth case, a superb manuscript on vellum, propably 
the finest in the collection, entitled, "Giulio Clovio 
Christi Vita Ab Evangelistis Descripta." This manu- 
script is beautifully ornamented with six full-page paint- 



230 

ings; six miniatures of the Erangelists; eiglit historiated 
borders and four headings with figures for intitulations, 
all heightened with gold in the best style of Italian art 
by Giulio Clovio. It is bound in crimson velvet with a 
patent lock and key, was executed for Alexander, 
Cardinal Farnese, and presented to Pope Paul III. 

In the middle of the alcove, out on the floor, are two 
cases, that on the east side containing a complete collec- 
tion of John Elliot Indian Bibles, and others of Elliofs 
works, together with an autographic letter of Elliot, and 
letters of other early New England colonial worthies; 
the letters presented by Robert Winthrop, of Boston, In 
the west case are ''Doctrina Christiana," Zumarraga, 
Mexico, 1543-44, one of the earliest productions of the 
press in America, it being a fact worth noting that 
printing was done in Mexico earlier than in the colonies; 
"Bay Psalm Book," printed by Stephen Daye, Cam- 
bridge, Mass., 1646, the first book in the English lan- 
guage printed in America; "Laws and Acts of New 
York," William Bradford, Neiv York, 1693-1694, the 
first book printed in the city or province of New York 
(p. 95); Petrus de Alyco (Pierre d'Ailly). "Imago 
Mundi," about 1483, supposed to have directed Colum- 
bus to the possible existence of a Western Continent. 

In a case against the wall east of the alcove, and in 
each of two cases placed back to back along the center 
of the floor east of the door, are books relating to the 
discovery of America, among them the rare account of 
the third voyage of Vespucius; four of the famous 
Columbus letters, one of which w^as certainly printed by 
Stephen Plannck, at Rome, 1493; a complete series of 
the Cortez letters, several autograph letters by Diego 
Columbus, who succeeded his father as Admiral of the 
Indies; "Cosmographia Introductio," 1507. in which 
the word " America " occurs for the first time; one of 
the earliest maps of America, Vienna, 1520, and " Con- 
questa de Peru," Francisca de Xeres, Salamanca, 1547. 

In the third case, down the middle of the room, in the 
south line east of the door, are: Tiie first German Bible, 
printed by Henry Eggestein, Strastjurg, about 1466, and 
the first edition of the Boiiemian Bible, Prague, 1480. 
At the east end of the center line of cases, on the north 
side, is a case containing chiefly Aldine classics, and 



281 

next to it examples of Caxtou's works, among- the latter 
the " Breeches Bible," WestmiJister, 1484, so-called be- 
cause of the use of the word, " breeches," Genesis, iii, 7. 
The library proper in the south wing numbers about 
50,000 volumes and is especially rich in works of early 
Auierican history and belles-letters, and in works relating 
to Shakespeare and biblical literature, and contains the 
large musical library of the late Joseph W. Drexel. A 
carefully selected library of English and French litera- 
ture was recently bequeathed to it by Felix Astoin. 

AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL 
HISTORY. 

The American Museum of Natural History is situated 
in Manhattan Park, which extends from Seventy-seventh 
to Eighty-first streets, between Eighth and Ninth ave- 
nues. It is governed by a board of twenty-five trustees, 
and its privileges are extended upon the same terms as 
those of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, excepting 
that the tickets carry with them the further privilege of 
utilizing the study collections which are not on exhibi- 
tion to the general public. The city furnishes the buihl- 
iiig, the Museum occupying it under a lease similar to 
that of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Museum 
is open every week day from 10 A. M. to 4:30 P. M.. 
and also Wednesday and Saturday evenings. The insti- 
tution is still in the early stages of its development, its 
plan being to gradually extend its collections until it can 
offer every facility for the study of natural science. Its 
gi-owth has been remarkably rapid. It was chartered in 
1869. The nucleus of its collections was formed by the 
purchase of the D. G. Elliott collection of North Ameri- 
can birds, to which was soon added the collection of 
birds and mammals of the late Prince Maximillian of 
Neuwied; the principal acquisitions since then have 
been the James Hall collection of fossils, which is the 
best of American palaeozoic forms and is one of the most 
important cabinets in the Museum; the Jay collection 
of shells, presented by Miss Catharine L. Wolfe (p. 219), 
as a memorial of her father, John David Wolfe, who 
was the first president of the Museum; the Baily collec- 
tion of minerals; the Jesup collection of woods; the 



232 

Jesup collection of building stones; the Emmons archae- 
logical collection of Alaskan objects. The present build- 
ing being too small for tlie complete exhibition of the 
collections of the Museum, the city is now erecting a 
large addition of brick faced with brownstone at the 
southern end, which has caused a temporary transfer of 
the entrance to the northeast side. The corner-stone of 
the present building was laid by President Grant, June 2, 
1874, and the building was formally opened December 
22, 1877. The halls in this building are 170 feet long 
by 60 feet wide, the stories varying in height from 18 to 
30 feet. During this year the new addition will probably 
be completed, when large additions will be made to the 
exhibits, and their arrangement possibly altered. In the 
addition is a fine lecture-room already completed, where 
lectures are delivered under the auspices of the State 
Superintendent of Public Instruction, and under the 
special charge of Prof. A. S. Bickmore. 

Collections. — Jesup Collections: The hall on the 
ground floor is chiefly taken up with the Jesup Collec- 
tion of American Forestry, and the Jesup Collection of 
Economic Entomology, both the gift of ]\Iorris K. Jesup, 
tlie president of the Museum. The Jesup Collection of 
American Forestry is believed to contain a specimen of 
the wood of all but twelve kinds of trees in the United 
States, and is thoroughly arranged in large cases placed 
at right angles to the Wfdls of the room between the 
windows, an adn)irable arrangement for securing perfect 
lighting, which is followed throughout the building. 
Each specimen is split about half way down its entire 
length. The lower half, therefore, which is intact, 
shows the appearance of the tree with its bark untouched, 
while the upper split half shows the grain of the wood, 
beautifully polished. The collection is thoroughly labeled, 
the cards giving not only the family anil species of 
the tree, but its specific gravity, percentage of ash, co- 
efficient of elasticity, etc. On each label is also a chart 
showing in green the geographical distribution of the 
tree. Besides the wood, there are artificially prepared, 
but none the less admirable, specimens of the leaf and 
blossom of each tree. An important adjunct of this 
collection is the Jesup Collection of Economic Entomol- 
ogv. This is exhibited on table cases in the alcoves, and 



233 

in the middle of the room. It consists of branches, 
leaves and blossoms of the various trees exhibited, and 
npon them insects which are destructive to their growth. 
These, though artificiiil, are most natural in appearance. 
The insects, of course, are sometimes of great beauty, 
such as butterflies and large caterpillars, so that both 
collections are as beautiful as they are interesting, and 
are with the general visitor a very popular feature of 
the Museum. Mammal Groups. — In this hall aie also a 
series of cases with bird groups, completely labeled and 
admirably arranged to show their habits. For instance, 
in one case are five specimens of Labrador duck. One 
of them is on a stump upon a snow-covered shore, others 
stand upon thin ice which extends a little out over the 
water, another is swimming in the water itself. Other 
similar groups will be found in the Hall of Birds in the 
floor above. The groups, unique in this country, are 
the gift of Mrs. R. L. Stuart. 

Bird Hall. — The hall on the second floor is devoted 
to the collection of birds and other mammals, although 
the latter are not very numerous, the chief feature being 
a fine collection of monkeys. Handbook to this hall, 
15 cents. There are aboiit 50,000 birds all told in the 
Museum, but not all of these are on exhibition, many of 
them being pi-eserved in the study room on the top 
floor in moth-i)roof tin cabinets. Among the study 
collections is one especially fine of humming birds and 
a collection of from 10,000 to 12.000 birds' eggs. There 
is a small exhibition of these latter in the first alcove to 
the left on entering the Bird Hall. Of the objects, not 
birds, on exhibition in this hall, those which will prob- 
ably attract most attention are the stuffed skin and 
skeleton of Mr. Crowley, the fcimous chimpanzee from 
the Zoological Garden in Central Park; in the middle of 
the hall the skeleton of Jumbo, the famous elephant, 
loaned by Barnum & Bailey, and at the southern end of 
the hall the cases containing a fine collection of monkeys. 

The birds exhibited in this hall number about 11,000 
specimens, of which about 3,000 are North American, 
3,000 are South American and 5,000 from the Old World. 
The North American birds occupying cases from B to F 
on the east side of the hall, form a faunal collection of 
bill's of the United States and of regions thence north- 



2U 

ward to Greenland and the Arctic Ocean, nearly every 
species and sub-s|ie!ies in this great tract of country 
being represented by one or nioi-e specimens. The South 
American birds occupy the remaining cases F to Jon the 
east side of the hall, and inchule birds from Mexico, West 
Indies, Central America and South America. The Old 
World birds occupy all the cases on the west side of the 
hall. Each collection is arranged systematically, start- 
ing at the north end of the hall with the highest or more 
specialized group, the song bird, and ending with the 
lowest, which in the North American birds are the auks, 
loons, and grebes, and in the South American and Old 
World birds the penguins and struthuous birds. Many 
New World birds have been arranged with Old World 
specimens so that the series on the west side of the hall 
IS within certain limits a general systematic collection 
of the birds of the world. Besides the birds in the 
general collection, there are in this hall cases containing 
the balance of the interesting mammal groups and two 
cases of birds of brilliant plumage. 

On the floor above, a gallery leads around this hall, 
and suspended on a level with this gallery is a huge war 
canoe made from one tree by the Bella-Bella tribe 
opposite Queen Charlotte Island, British Columbia, and 
presented by Heber R. Bishop. Only the bottom of it 
can be seen from the Bird Hall, but it is one of the most 
interesting features to be seen from the Ethnological 
Gallery. 

Ethnological Gallery. — The collections in the Ethno- 
logical Gallery on the third floor begin in case A on the 
east side, with weapons, a full suit of cocoa-nut fibre 
armor and some very scant articles of wearing appeal 1, 
chiefly from Samoa and the Fiji Islands. Case B — Fine 
collection of hideous masks used in war and sacred 
dances, and of weapons from New Ireland. C — Beauti- 
fully carved paddles from the islands of Mangaia and 
Maori weapons, carved idols, ornaments and apparel, 
all of fine workmanship. I) — Paddles from New Ireland, 
and weapons, especially effective-looking short clubs, 
from the Fiji Islands. E — Long war clubs finely carved, 
from the Fiji Islands and Samoa. F — Besides war clubs 
sevei'al reed pipes from New Ireland, feather head-geai", 
baskets and gourds fi-om New Guinea, G— Ferocious- 



235 

looking;- sliarktoeth, weapons from tlic King's Mill group. 
H — Several Cava bowls from Tunga Islamls. 1 and J — 
Weapons and articles of apparel from various Pacific 
islands. In the middle of the southern end of the 
gallery is a huge Haida idol from British Columbia. 
On the east side of the gallery beginning on the southern 
end with K is an admirable collection of hideous masks 
from Alaska (Emmons collection). L — Alaskan utensils 
of wood, and horn spoons, gambling implements, largo 
wooden food dishes almost like troughs and baskets of 
spruce (Emmons collection). M — Fishing implements 
and seal-killing clubs from Alaska (Emmons collection). 
Also cloth, beautifully carved pumpkin vessels, shield, 
baskets, large water-jars and brass rod vessels and Zulu 
snuff-boxes, Africa, — several of these objects presented 
by C. P. Huntington. N — Kaffir weapons, Zulu war 
shields and basket-work, and British North American 
and other American Indian articles. — North American 
objects, among them a mummy discovered in Grand 
avenue cave, Kentucky, and articles from British 
Guiana. P — American mound pottery. Q — African 
articles. R — Central and South American antiquities. 
T — Skulls and dessicated heads from the Pacific islands, 
shrunken to a ghastly smallness but preserving the 
features, the efi'ect being heightened by long, black hair. 

Besides the collections on exhibition, there is in the 
study room up stairs the fine A. E. Douglass collection 
and lil)rary of prehistoric Indian relics, many of these 
from Florida mounds opened by Mr. Douglass himself. 
It has a, line of perfect pottery and the largest collection 
of hematite relics known, about 350 very interesting pipe 
heads, discs for games, perforated gorgets and ceremonial 
objects. 

Geological Hall. — This is on the fourth floor. The 
collections exhibited consist of a conchological, a min- 
eralogical and a geological collection, the latter embrac- 
ing a collection of fossil organic reniains and other 
material illustrating the geological formations, princi- 
pally of this country. (Hand-book, 15 cents.) The 
conchological collection occupies the two ranges of cases 
placed on the west side of the middle of the room and is 
what was formerly known as the Jay collection, made 
by Dr. John C. Jay, of Rye, N. Y., and purchased with 



236 

the library pertaininjif to it by Miss Catharine L. Wolfe, 
and presented to the Museum as a memorial of her 
father, John David Wolfe, the first president of the 
Museum. The collection is thoroughly labeled. The 
shells most popular because of their beauty, the cypraeas 
and the cones, will be found respectively in cases 17 and 
18 and in cases 19 to 21. 

The Mineralogical Collection occupies fourteen desk 
cases arranged along the east side of the middle hall and 
is classified according to Dana's system of mineralogy. 
Commencing at the first case on the east side there is 
arranged a collection representing the native elements 
as far as the collection contains specimens. Then follow 
the different groups. Among the minerals is a fine 
cabinet of malachites, a group of quartz crystals from 
Hot Springs, Arkansas, and specimens of exquisitely 
agatized trees, and the Tiffany collection of gems and 
gem materials and a special case illustrating the geology 
of Manhattan Island, among the minerals being a liuge 
garnet. 

The Geological Collection occupies the large ca-^es 
forming alcoves along each side of the room and the 
alcove cases between them. The cases are mostly either 
lettered or numbered. The large cases along the sides 
of the room are lettered on the end of the case under the 
gasbracket; the alcove cases are numbered on the end. 
In the ends of the alcove cases is arranged a special 
series of fossils to illustrate the American portion of 
" Dana's Manual of Geology," a large part of the species 
exhibited being tlie very ones from which the figures in 
the Maiuuil were taken. On the lal^el will be found the 
name of the species and that of its author, the page of 
the Manual where figured, and the number of the figure 
representing it, the group of plants or animals to which 
it belongs and the locality whence obtained. There is 
also a copy of Dana's Manual of Geology kept in alcove 
No. 2 for the use of visitors who wisli to consult its 
pages. This featui'e is one never before attempted in 
any collection or museum. Against the windows are 
beautifully colored ti-ansparencies of localities (chiefly 
Western) showing interesting geological formations. 

The most interesting object in this hall to the general 
public is the skeleton of tlie Mastodon Giyanteus, whose 



237 

extreme length to the anterior curve of the tusks is 18 
feet; to the end of the tusk sockets, 14 feet ; height to top 
of dorsal spine, 8 feet 6 inches; breadth across the hip 
bones, 5 feet; length of tusk along the outer curve, 7 feet 
5 inches. The bones of this skeleton were found imbedded 
in peaty material on the edge of what was less than fifty 
years before an open pond, subsequently however drained, 
in Little Britain, near Newburg, N. Y. Other interest- 
ing skeletons are that of the Moa, a fossil bird from New 
Zealand, which stands in the first alcove to the right of 
the entrance, and a fossil Irish deer which stands at 
the southern end of the hall. Among the general collec- 
tion the visitor will probably find of greatest interest a 
cabinet of fine gum copals full of insects, and also the 
slabs in the vestibule and in the southern end of the hall 
showing the strides of a fossil reptile, Broiitozoum Gi- 
f/cmteum. These were made by a large lizard-like animal 
iiaving a habit of walking on its hind feet, the strides 
measuring about 4 feet each. The general collection 
is thoroughly labeled. The admii'able hand-book is in- 
dispensable to a proper understanding of the exhibits in 
this hall. 



CHAPTKR X. 



( E x\ T K A I. 1» A K K . 

rcntral Park is bounded soiiili l>y Fifty-ninth street, 
nortii by One Hundred and Tenth street, east by Fifth 
avenue, west l)y Eighth avenue. It is an evidence of 
how liuman skill, guided by artistic taste, may make 
glad the waste places. Work upon it was begun in 
1857, up to wliicli time the ground now covered by what 
is considered one of the most beautiful pleasure grounds 
in the world, was a dreary expanse of rock, brush and 
swamp. Perhaps the very ruggedness of the original 
has contributed not a little to the beauty of the finished 
work , the liuge boulders which here and there project 
from tiie beautiful lawns, or stand guard on the waters 
of the lakes and ponds, adding not a little to the im- 
pressiveness of the landscape. 

General Features. — Central Park is a little over 2^ 
miles in length, and a little more than half a mile in 
breadth; its area being 840 acres, with 9 miles of drive, 
averaging in width 54 feet and extending in places to a 
width of 60 feet; 5f miles of bridle paths averaging 16A 
feet in width, and 29i^ miles of walks. Some 400 acres 
are wooded, the trees, shrubs and vines put ont since the 
opening of the park numbering over 500,000. The 
benches distributed throughout the park, phiced as much 
as possible in secluded nooks and within the sheltering 
shade of the trees or arbors, have a seating capacity of 
11,000. The various drives are usually alive with every 
variety of fashionable equipages; the main entrance for 
this picturesque procession being at Fifth avenue and 
Fifty-nintli street. Those who are interested particu- 
larly in fast horses can see these entering the Park at 
Fighth avenue and Fifty-ninth street. The Park De- 
partment has made a grand division of Central Park 
into the South and North Park, regarding the new 
Croton Reservoir as the line of division. For the beauti- 
ful landscape effects in which the Park abounds, the 



MAP OF CENTRAL PARK. 







Br |M 1 , , , , Chiid r cnsca w nf Th AVENUE 

i mnnnnnnnnr, 



2-TheDir^"°"""'''°"*^''"^ Play-ground 5-Music Pavilion. 

J, "y' 6— Carriage Concourse. 

-Menager,e and Park Offices. ,_The Terrace Esplanade. 

4— Beethoven. o n u j i- 

8— Bethesda Fourt. 



9-The Casino. 
10— Auld Lang Syne. 
II— The Camera. 
12— The Belvidere. 



13— Carriage Concourse. 
14 — Block-house ; War of 1812. 
15— Mt. St. Vincent. 
16— Inscope Rock. 



17— Women's Cottage. 
18 -Men's Cottage, 
ig— Women's Cottage. 
20— Summer-house. 



21— Summer-house. 
22— Summer-house. 
23— Schiller. 
24 -Cave. 



25 — Carrousel. 

26— Ball-players' house. 

27— Children's Cottage. 



239 

public is indebted to Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert 
Vaiix; the architectural features being by Calvert Vaux 
and the late J. Wrey Mould. 

Entrances. — The entrances to the Park, nineteen in 
number, are called gates, and it is the intention of the 
Park Commissioners, when sufficient money for carry- 
ing out their purpose is on hand, to justify the term by 
putting up gates of handsome architectural design at the 
various entrances. The names and locations of the 
entrances and localities, as officially given, will be found 
on the accompanying map of Central Park. 

Lakes and Reservoirs. — The lakes and ponds in the 
Park have an area of 43^ acres. The largest of ihese 
is the Lake, whose shores, at about its middle, approach 
so closely as to virtually form a sti-ait dividing it into 
two parts. It covers al»out 20 acres. The Pond, cover- 
ing about 5 acres, lies in a lovely depression just to the 
west of the entrance of Fifth avenue and Fifty-ninth 
street. The Conservatory Water, 2| acres, is near Fifth 
avenue and Seventy-fourth street, and derives its name 
trom its vicinity to the site reserved for a conservatory. 
The Pool, the Loch, and Harlem Meer, are a chain of 
ponds covering respectively 2 acres, 1 acre and 12^ 
acres in the North Park. There are two reservoirs, the 
older and smaller in the center of the Park, extending 
from Seventy-nnith to Eighty-fourth street; the newer 
and larger lying nearly entirely across the Park between 
Eighty-sixth and Ninety-sixth streets. A walk and 
bridle path lead around it. The reservoirs have a com- 
bined area of 143 acres. 

Boats, Goat Carts, etc. — On the Pond are the so-called 
Lohengrin boats, 22 feet h)ng and holding twelve people 
and consisting of a catamaran propelled by a stern 
velocipede, which is concealed in a swan, whence the 
boats derive their name. Fares: Adults, 10 cents; 
children, 5 cents; adults, twelve tickets for $1 ; children, 
twenty-five tickets for $1. On the Lake are regular row 
boats. Fares : Circuit of the Lake, 2 miles, one pas- 
senger, 10 cents; children under twelve yeai's of age, 
5 cents; six adults, 50 cents; six children, 25 cents. 
Party boats: One person, half hour, 30 cents; each 
additional person, 10 cents; children, 5 cents. Boats 
without boatmen can be engaged at tlie boat house at 



240 

these rates, but a deposit of |2 i^ rcquiiv^l, fioats can 
be had until 11 P. M. At the ]\Iall are donuys and gnat 
carts, 10 cents; near the ball <?round a carruasei, 5 cents, 
and in various parts of the Park swings, 5 cents. 

Meals. — Meals may l)e had at the Casino and at 
Mount St. Vincent; light refreshments at the Dairy, 
and mineral waters at the Spa. For Skating see under 
Sports, p. 64. 

Besides the Metropolitan Museuin of Art (p. 202), 
there are in the Park the Obelisk, a number of statues 
and g-roui)S of statuary and th(! INIenagerie. 

Obelisk. — The obelisk is a memorial of one of the 
most ancient races standing in the chief pleasure ground 
of one of tlie youngest of nations. How old it is may 
be judged from the fact that it was probably gazed upon 
by Moses. 

From Alexandria to Neiv York. — The history of its 
acquisition by New York City begins witli the open- 
ing of the Suez Canal in 1869, when the Khedive 
intimated to William Henry Hurlbert, an American 
journalist, that it might l)e possible for the United States 
to acquire it as a gift. Mr. Hurlbert, on his return to 
New York, brought the matter to tiie attention of Wil- 
liam H. Vanderbilt. and in October, 1878, the Secretary 
of State of the United States instructed the United 
States Consul-General at Alexandria to open negotiations, 
which resulted favorably. In 1879, bids for its removal 
from Alexandria and its transportation to New York 
were advertised for, and Comnuinder Henry H. Gorringe, 
U. S. N., secured a contract for its removal, transfer 
and ei-ection in Central Park, for $75,000. Enghuid 
delayed 78 years in transporting to London the twin 
obelisk of that in New York. The New York obelisk 
was erected January 2, 1881. Gorringe arrived at Alex- 
andria October 16, 1879. November 6th of the same 
year he put 100 Arabs at work excavating tiie pedestal, 
"pushing the work vigorously, as great opposition to tiie 
removal of the obelisk had ari.-en, and he had reason to 
fear violence. The obelisk was turned and lowered to a 
horizontal position December 6, 1879. It was then Gor- 
ringe discovered, in tlie foundation and steps, stones and 
implements of masonic significance, and he carefully 
noted their position, iv'placing them exactly when he 



r^ 




OBELISK. 



241 

erected the obelisk in New York. He purchased tlie 
steamer Dessong, and embarked with his cargo of 1,475 
tons June 12, 1880, arriving at New York July 20th. 
The obelisk was disembarked at Staten Island on tracks 
anil cannon balls, and so great interest had been awak- 
ened in it that the visitors on one day alone numbered 
17.011. It was re-embarked, and on September 16, 1880, 
drawn from the foot of Ninety-sixtli street and East 
rivei- on tracks with rollers to Greywacke Knoll, a beau- 
tiful rise of ground just west of the Metropolitan 
Museum of Art. On October 9th, 9,000 Free Masons 
paraded and their Grand Master laid the foundation 
stone; and January 22, 1881, the obelisk was unveiled in 
the presence of 20.000 s[)ectators. Tiie total cost of 
transportation, amounting to $102,576, was defrayed by 
Mr. Vanderbilt. By a si)ecial act of Congress, Ameri- 
can registry was allowed the Dessong. 

Description and History. — The Obelisk is a striking 
example of gracefnl and elegant simplicity. Its total 
height is 90 feet, the height of the monolithic shaft 
being 69 feet. Its thickness at the base is 8x8 feet, and 
its weight 448,000 pounds. It is of red syenite from the 
Assouan quarries. The plinth, of syenite, stands on a 
base with three steps of hard limestone, the foundation 
being a mass of concrete, capped with masonry to a level 
with the pavement. This is the only obelisk, excepting a 
small one at Corfe Castle, which is accompanied by its 
original pedestal and steps. 

The monolith itself is a quadrilateral shaft ending in 
a pyrimidion. On this pyrimidion are inscriptions in 
liieroglyphics which show that the obelisk dates from 
the reign of Thothmes III, the greatest Egyptian king, 
1591 to 1565 B.C., and the inscri{)tionson the center line 
of the three sides of the monolith on which the hiero- 
glyphics are still legible, are also dedicated to Thothmes 
and consist chiefly of his list of titles and of flattering 
epithets, all the inscriptions being singularly alike. 
They furthermore show that the obelisk was erected by 
Thothmes before the Temple of the Sun at Heliopolis. 
On either side of the center line of inscriptions on each 
of the three faces are lines of hieroglyphics in which a 
suljsequentking, Rameses 11. 18 -8 to 1822 B.C., glorified 
himself; anil about 988 B.C., another king, Usorkon I, 



242 

.craved his olBcial title near the edges. The obelisk is be- 
lieved to have been thi-own down by Cainbyses between 
B.C. 525 and 521, and it lay prostrate till the Roman 
Conquest. It is thought to have been removed from 
Heliopolis to Alexandria by Cleopatra, whence the name 
Cleopatra's Needle, and to have been erected at Alex- 
andria in front of the Temple of the C«sars. Its com- 
panion, which now stands in London, had fallen, and 
long lain prostrate in the dust before it had been re- 
moved to that city. Ours was still standing, and is the 
real Cleopatra's Needle, although the name is also given 
to the obelisk in London. 

Bronze Crabs. — At the base of the monolith there were 
originally four bronze crabs, only two of which, how- 
ever, remained. These are now in the Metropolitan 
Museum of Art. They contain Greek and Latin inscrip- 
tions which point to the year when the obelisk was re- 
erected in honor of the Cicsars at Alexaiulria, the 
inscriptions reading: "In the year8 (i Caesar, Barbarus 
dedicated, Pontius being the architect." This would 
place the date of its re-erection at 22 B.C. The faces 
of the obelisk having shown the effects of wear owing 
to the severity of our climatic changes, have been coated 
with paraffine. 

Statues and Groups. — The statues and statuary 
groups in Central Park and their location are in their 
alphabetical order: Beethoven — On the Mall east of the 
music stand, a bronze l)ust on a granite pedestal, un- 
veiled July k!2, 1884. Looking up toward the bust is 
an allegorical figure which is only life size, although the 
bust is " heroic." Bolivar (the South American liberator) 
— On the Summit Rock Concourse on the west side of 
the Park near the Eighty-first street entrance, an 
equestrian statue by R. De la Cora, a gift from the 
people and government of Venezuela, unveiled June 17, 
1884. Burns — At the south end of the Mall, a bronze 
statue of the poet by John Steele, Edinborough, pre- 
sented to the city in 1880 by Scotch residents. 
Coinmerce — Near the entrance at Eighth avenue and 
Fifty-ninth street, an allegorical bronze figure eight 
feet high, presented by Stephen B. Guion, Eagles and 
Goat — East of the Mall, a bronze group by Fratin, pre- 
sented by Gordon W. Burnham, 1863. Falconer — West 



243 

of the head of the Lake on a higli bluff, a graceful 
bronze figure by George Simonds, presented by George 
Kemp, 1872. Halleck, Fitz Greene— On the Mall, a 
bronze statue of the poet on a granite pedestal, modeled 
by Wilson McDonald, JIamiUo?i, Atexa^ider — Near 
the Metropolitan Museum of Art on the west side of 
the east drive, a granite statue by Conradts, presented 
by John C. Hamilton, in 18S0. Humboldt — On the west 
side of the drive near the entrance at Fifth avenue and 
Fifty-ninth street, a bronze bust on a granite pedestal, by 
Gustav Blaeser, pi-esented by German residents Septem- 
ber 14, 1869, on the 100th anniversary of Humboldt's 
birth. Indian Hunter — West of tlie Mall, a spirited 
bronze figure by J. Q. A. Ward. Mazzini — West drive 
near the Seventh Regiment Monument, an heroic bronze 
bust by Turini, presented by Italian residents in 1878. 
Moore — On the east sliore of the Pond, a bronze 
bust of the poet by Dennis B. Sheehan, presented 
May 28, 1880, by the Mooi-e Memorial Committee. 
Morse, S. F. B. (p. 170)— Near the entrance at Fifth 
avenue and Seventy-second street, life-size bronze statue 
by Byron M. Pickett, erected in 1871 by an association 
of telegraphers. Schiller — In tiie Ramble, a bronze 
bust by C. L. Richter, presented by German residents in 
1859. Scott — Near tlie southern end of the Mall, a bronze 
statue of tlie novelist and poet on an Aberdeen granite 
pedestal, copied f i-om the statue by John Steele in Edin- 
borough, presented by Scotch residents in 1872. Seventli 
Regiment — On the west drive near Seventy-second 
street, a bronze figure of a private soldier, by J. Q. A. 
Ward, ei-ected in 1874 as a memorial of those members 
of the Seventh Regiment, National Guard of the State 
of New York, who fell during the Civil War. Shake- 
speare — At the southern end of the Mall, a gracefully 
poised bronze statute by J, Q, A. Ward, erected May 
23, 1872, the 300th anniversary of the poet's birth. The 
Pilgrim — Near tlie lake on the crossing of the eastern 
drive and the roadway leading from the entrance at 
Fifth avenue and Seventv-second street, a fine bronze 
statue 9 feet high, by J. Q, A. Ward, a gift of the New 
England Society to commemorate the landing of the 
Pilgrims on Plymouth Rock in 1620, The Still Hint— 
Near the Obelisk on a rock overlooking the east drive, a 



244 

strong bronze easting by Kenieys, representing a pantlier 
crouciied for the leap upon its victim. Tigress and 
Young — A short distance west of the terrace, an artis- 
tic bronze group put up in 1867. Webster, Daniel — At 
the junction of the west drive and the road from Sev- 
enty-second street, a heroic statue of the statesman by 
Tliomas Ball, presented by Gordon W. Burnhani. 

Menagerie. — The Central Park Menagerie (W. A. 
Conklin, Supt.) is situated at Sixty-fourth street and 
Fifth avenue. It occuj)ies about 10 acres of ground. 
The location is a temporary one, it being the purpose to 
eventually remove tiie collection to one of the new parks 
situated on the north side of the Harlem river. Signs 
are attached to the cages giving the common and scien- 
tific name of the animals, family to which they belong, 
habitat and name of donor. The carnivora are fed at 
21^ P. ^[.; sea lions, pelicans, etc., at 9 A. M. ; monk- 
eys at 9 A. M. and 3 P. ]\[. The first paddock met 
with on the walk fi-om Fifty-ninth street contains deer. 
2. Moidvey house. 3. SnuiU house adjoining monkey 
house contains numerous specimens of birds. 4. The 
large stone building is used for the offices of administra- 
tion of the Park and the Park Police. It was erected in 
1851 for use as a State arsenal. In the building is to be 
seen a colossal marble statue of Cohnnbus. carved by 
Miss Emma Stebbins. 5. The large building in the 
rear of the arsenal building contains the larger carnivora, 
such as lions, tigers, leopards, jaguar, puma and hyaena, 
also a splendid specimen of two-horned rhinoceros from 
Africa, the only living specimen in this country. 6. To 
tiie north of this building is the tank for hippopotami, 
the youngest of which was born in the Menagerie 
October 4, 1890, being the first one ever raised in 
America. 7. To the south of the carnivora building 
are a number of cages containing small black bears, aiul 
a tank in which are sea lions from the Pacific Ocean, 
and numbers of water fowl. 8. The next building is 
occupied by antelopes. 9. In the rear is the elephant 
house, containing four specimens of the Indian species. 
'"Tip," the largest, is 8 feet 9 inches in height, weighs 
9,000 j)ounds, and is 23 years old. This animal formerly 
])elonged to the King of Italy, Victor Fnumuel, and 
after his death was purchased by Adam Forepaugh, and 




MENAGERIE. 



245 

subsequently })resented to the Menagerie. It is at 
times very unruly, havins: killed six men before it came 
into the menagerie. Paddock in the rear. lO. In 
the rear of the elephant paddock is the prairie dog 
inclosure. 11. Further up the hill are several cages 
containing foxes, raccoons, etc., and the bear pit, witli 
Polar, grizzly and large black bears. A walk leads 
around this pit to the top, where the visitor can looic 
down on the animals. Fi"om tliis point also a good view 
is obtained of tiie grounds of the Menagerie. 12. Con- 
tinuing down the steps there is reached a straight walk 
with several paddocks on each side, containing the 
American bison or buffalo (the bull a remarkably fine 
specimen), African buffalo, zebra fi'om India, Ihimas 
from South America, avudads or Barbary wild sheep 
from Africa, and the camels. All of the latter were 
bred in the Menagerie. A wire inclosure contains tiie 
emu from Australia, and storks and cranes. 18. I'he 
buildings north of the okl arsenal are the small mammal 
house; a variety of small carnivorous animals; the eagle 
house, and an inclosure containing a variety of water- 
birds and waders. 

General View. — An excellent general view of the 
Park may be had by those who care to merely skim over 
it, instead of to study its beauties thoroughly, by making 
a tour in one of the Park carriages, wliich are to be 
found at tlie entrance at Fifth avenue and Fifty-ninth 
street. They make the trip up to Mt. St. Vincent, near 
the northern end of the Park, and return, at twenty-five 
cents for each person, children fifteen cents, and stop 
en route at the various points of interest. Visitors 
may alight, and by taking a return ticket on leaving the 
carriage, return by another carriage. The pul)lic hacks 
which may be found at most of the entrances on Fifty- 
ninth street, charge about double these rates. 

Detailed Tour. — Usually, when visitors have seen 
the Managerie. tlie Mall, the Musems and the Obelisk, 
they think they have nuule a tour of Central Park. As 
a matter of fact, they nuiy l)e said to have only just 
skimmed over it, for Central Park, while beautiful as a 
whole, is most exquisite in its various details. There 
are paths, nooks, arbors and vistas which have endeared 
themselves to all who are familiar with this wonderful 



246 

pleasure ground, details of wliicli strangers, merely go- 
ing over tlie ground as most strangers do, liave no 
knowledge whatsoever. The Park being long and nar- 
row, it is easy to start in at either end and make a rea- 
sonably thorough tour of it witliout retracing one's 
steps. 

After entering the Park at Fffth avenue and Fifty- 
ninth street the visitor shoidd linger and watch the won- 
derful procession of carriages of all descriptions. He 
slionld then take the first path to the right and descend 
to the beautiful little sheet of water called the 
"Pond," whose wavelets ripple up t-ow^ards the 
weeping willows overlianging the rocky shores. The 
path along the southern shore leads to the 
wharf where the Lohengrin boats are anchored. 
Besides these boats, black swans glide in and out of the 
numerous bays which penetrate into the shore. After 
passing the wharf the path rises toward the Sixth avenue 
entrance to a rocky eminence. Further on, it leads to a 
much higher mass of rock, Copcot Rock, on whicli there 
is a large rustic summer house, shady, cool and inviting 
and affording glimpses of the west di'ive to which a path 
descends. It is preferable, however, to continue on 
around the " Pond." Tiie path leads to a superb rise of 
{)iue-crowned rock called the "Promontory," and pass- 
ing behind this crosses a little bridge spanning a minia- 
ture strait, which toward the north broadens out again. 
A little beyond the bridge the paths separate, that to the 
south leading over to the Menagerie, while that to the 
north rises agai-n to the main drive with its brilliant 
throng of vehicles. Taking the latter and proceeding 
along the drive, over the bridge which crosses the eques- 
trian path, the visitor reaches a small path on the left 
which descends to a romantic dell, from which glimpses 
of the northern extremity of the pond ai-e had, and leads 
up again to the Kinderberg (Children's Hill), a rustic arbor 
of great beauty large enough to accommodate several 
hundred people. This arbor is loveliest of a spring or 
autunni day when the vines are rustling in the breeze 
and glints of sunshine are dancing over the floor. JMany 
children are usually gathered in this arbor, for near it 
are the swings and the Dairy and h\ crossing the drive 
to the west by the i)ath which descends from this arbor 



247 

the Carrousel (Merry-Go-Round), another set of swings, 
and the Bull Grounds are reached. A fine view is had 
of the latter. Umpire Rock rises at i he southwestern end. 
West of the drive, a little to the north of the Ball 
Grounds, tiiere is a path leading through what is known 
as the Mai'ble Arch to the Mall. This path is deeply 
shaded and its level is far below that of the drive, and, 
after passing under the Marble Arch, it rises by a flight 
of steps to the Mall. The effect of the beautiful vista 
which bui'sts upon tlie view as one emerges from the 
Arch is one of the great trium{)hs of architecture and 
landscape gardening in the Park. After taking a general 
view of the Mall, peering down its colonnades of stately 
trees, and oljtaining glimpses of the Green — a tree-dotted 
stretch of meadowland to the west, with a fine flock of 
sheep — it is practicable to make a detour from the Mall 
to the Menagerie (p. 244), and, after one has exhausted the 
siglits there, to retrace one's steps to the Mall, but over 
a different path, which leads through a very romantic 
section of rocks and trees and small open passages of 
meadow called the Dene. This path, after crossing the 
main drive, rejoins the Mall at the concert grounds; but 
the Casino Concourse, the Casino, and the Pergola can 
be included. 

The 3I((U is, however, worthy of a stroll along its 
entire length. It is about one-third of a mile in length, 
beginning at the Marble Arch and extending to the 
Terrace, which commands a view of the Esplanade and 
Lake. Concerts are given at the music stand near the 
northern end Wednesday and Sunday afternoons during 
the summer. It is «i> beautifully shaded stretch of 
ground, rows of stately trees forming green arched 
colonnades, and between the main walk and the side 
paths and drives are beautifully laid out lawns. At the 
southern end are the statues of Halleck, Scott, Shake- 
speare and Burns. Around the band stand are orna- 
mental benches and the Beethoven statue stands in an 
open space to lihe right. On days when concerts are 
given the Mall is so crowded as to be practically impas- 
sable. The Terrace, at the northern end of the Mall 
upon high ground, is bwilt of yellow stone and from it 
three stairways lead down to the Esplanade, the central 
stairway being sunk under the road and leading through 



248 

a brilliantly tiled and ornamented arch, or, perhaps, 
more properly speaking, hall, with niches on either side. 
The two side stairs are open, the sides bearing stone 
panels with delicately carved designs of birds, animals 
and fruits. The view from the edge of the Terrace 
is exceedingly picturesque. On the Esplanade, which 
runs to the edge of the Lake, is the Betltesda Fountain, 
with its sparkling jets and silvery drip from the u])per 
to the lower basin. Across the Lake is its bold northern 
shore, with grey rocks, whose ruggedness is softened by 
deep foliage; then comes the green of the Ramble, with 
the grey tower of the Belvedere in the background, the 
whole being half framed in by the soft green mounds 
that rise on either side of the Esplanade. Li the main 
basin of tiie Bethesda Fountain are a nundjcr of rare 
water plants. These are all completely lal)eled and in- 
clude the Lotus, the beautiful, flesh-colored Lidia water 
lily, the Papynus plant and tiie beautiful South Ameri- 
cad floating pond-weed. 

The Bethesda Fountain is a representation of the 
story of the Pool of Bethesda, St. John (5, 2-4). Its 
crowning feature is the figure of an angel who appears 
to have just alighted on a mass of roe*k. and extends her 
hands as if blessing the waters which gush from it into 
the upper basin of the fountain, overflowing this and 
dripping into the lower basin, throwing a silvery veil 
over four figures symbolic of Temperance, Purity, 
Health and Peace. The fountain was designed and the 
figures were executed by Emma Stebbins. 

A tour in and out among the bays and under the 
bridges of the Lake in one of the boats is quite neces- 
sary to a thorough appreciation of the beauties of the 
Park. A stranger should also not fail to take the })ath 
which leads along the Lake around to the boat house 
and past it over the high ground to the north to some of 
the most romantic portions of the Ramble, over rocky 
hills and down into surprisingly beautiful glens, finally 
crossing the graceful Bow Bridge, wdiich spans the Lake 
at its narrowest point. Taking the road to the west of 
this bridge the Cherry Hill Concourse is reached, a point 
to which people in carriages drive, as it commands a 
superb view of the Lake and its shores. Then, leaving 
the Concourse and following the path along the drive to 



249 

the west, and ]>assiii^ tlie Webster statue one has a con- 
tinuous view of the western end of the Lake wliich is 
much hirger tluxn the eastern division. At the extreme 
northwestern end is Bank lloek Bay, named from its 
bold rocky shores. It is crossed by a l)ridge at its point 
of entrance into the Lake and taking this bridge and 
following the path to the right, one reaches — tlirougli 
what seems a natural cleft in the rock shutting out 
every sign of civilization — the Cave. This is one of the 
most romantic parts of the Park, for after emerging 
from the Gave and ascending a flight of narrow stairs 
hewn out of the solid rock, one can take a wild and 
rocky path along a little stream called the Gill and thus 
pass through some of the most beautiful parts of the 
RamhJe, which, as a whole, is probably the most se- 
cluded part of the Park, being rocky, well wooded and 
having here and there little clearings like meadows on a 
mountain side. Here, in fact, one is shut out from ab- 
solutely any suggestion of the city which lies at either 
side. 

Emerging from the Ramble over Vista Rock, one 
reaches at tiie southern end of the old receiving Reser- 
voir, the Be'vedej'e, a pretty granite building, from 
whose tower, 50 feet high, an excellent view of the Park 
and its surrom. dings is had. A path leads from the 
Belvedere to the east to the Obelisk {p. 240) and to the 
Metro2Jolitan Museum, of Art (p. 202), and to the west 
of the entrance at Eighth aveinie and Seventy-ninth 
street opposite the American Museum of Natural History 
(p. 231). 

Proceeding fi"om the Obelisk to the new receiving 
Reservoir, which lies like a great lake almost across the 
entire Park, one can take a walk which leads all around 
it and enjoy the fresh breeze as it blows over the water. 
It is worthwhile to inspect the South Gate House. Af- 
ter reaching the North Gate House, at the northwestern 
extremity of the Reservoir, it is best to take the path 
which leads down to the North Meadow, a broad stretch 
of tree-dotted grass where the tennis grounds are. 

From here walks lead across the extreme westerly 
drive to the Fool which lies far down below the drive 
and is the first of a series of lakes and water courses 
which terminate at the" extreme northeasterly part of 



250 

the Park in Harlem. Jleer. The road not only goes 
around the Pool, hut leads from it luider a ridge of 
natural rock along the little stream which connects the 
Pool with the Loch. At the head of the Loch a beauti- 
ful little brook conies trailing down among the rocks 
from the North INIeadow and the path itself, after leav- 
ing the Loch, follows another stream until the visitor 
find himself at Harlem Jleer. To his right is a high 
promontory and by ascending this to a point which is 
known as the Old Redoubt, he can obtain a fine view of 
the Meer. Re then, instead of doubling his steps, can 
])i'oceed from the Redoubt in a southerly direction 
towards 31owit St. Vincent, across the drive and take a 
path which will bring him to the head of the Loch. 
This he crosses by a bridge and then ascends the high 
and densely wooded westerly shore of the Loch. Reach- 
ing the westei'ly drive, he can cross it to what is known 
asHarlem Heights, or he can keep to the right and 
plunge into a maze of woodland and rocks rising to the 
height on which the old Block House stands, whence he 
can descend and leave the Park at One Hundred and 
Tenth street. 

'J^o the west of the northern end of Central Park is 
Morningside Park, rising toward Bloomingdale Heights. 
A conspicuous feature of this view will be the great 
Protestant Episcopal Cathedral of St. John the Divine, 
to be built on the lleights, near Morningside Park. 



CHAPTER XT. 



EAST, WEST AND NORTH OF CENTRAL PARK. 

East, West and North of Central Park are several club 
liouses and armories and many of the great charitable 
institutions of the city. 

East of Central Park. — There is a perfect cluster 
of these and of other public institutions east of Central 
Park from Sixty-fifth street to Seventieth street, extend- 
ing west as far as Madison avenue, and east to Third 
avenue. Among these are the Armory of the famous 
Seventh Regiment, a brick building with granite trim- 
mings, 200 feet by 405 feet, occupying the entire block 
bounded by Fourth and Lexington avenues. Sixty-sixth 
and Sixty-seventh streets, with a fine drill hall (200 feet 
by 300 feet), staff, reception and company rooms, a 
library, gymnasium, and rifle range, 300 feet long; Mt. 
Sinai Hospital, Lexington avenue and Sixty-sixth street 
(p. 60); Association for the Improved Instruction of 
Deaf Mutes (p. 61) ; Foundling Asylum, Sixty-eighth 
street and Third avenue (p. 61); Presbyterian Hospital, 
Madison avenue and Seventieth street (p. 60); Normal 
C'ollege, Fourth avenue and Sixty-eighth street (p. 150). 
On Sixty-seventh street, between Third and Second 
avenues, is the liandsome structure of the New York 
Turn Verein. On Sixty-seventh street, between Fourth 
and Third avenues, are the headquarters of the Neiv 
York Fire Department. Connected with this is an en- 
gine house a? ,d a drill yard, and this is the best place 
for the visitor to study the rperations of the famous 
New York Fire Department, and to inspect its apparatus. 
The force is under the supervision of a Board of three 
commissioners. The active force, uniformed, is divided 
into a Chief of Department, 2 Deputy-chiefs, 12 Chiefs 
of Battalion, 83 Foremen, 90 Assistant Foremen, 136 
Engineers of steamers, and 678 Firemen; making a total 
of 1,002. The stables for training horses until they be- 
come so expert that as soon as they hear the signal they 
leave their stalls and take their places at the shafts, the 



253 

harness dropping upon them by an atitoniatic arrange- 
ment, is in West One Hundred and Thirty-ninth street, 
between Columlnis and New Amstenhim avenues. The 
pay-rolls for 1889 aggregated a little over |1, 605,000. 
There are 56 engines, two of them vessels for work in 
quenching fire along the water front or among shipping, 
and 20 hook and ladder companies. The average num])er 
of alarms responded to by each company during last year 
was 116; the average number of fires at which each com- 
pany performed duty, 50; there having been 2,834 fires; 
the total loss being |4, 142, 777. 

Fifth avenue continues to tiie Harlem river, its course, 
however, being interrupted from One Hundred and 
Twentieth to One Hundred and Twenty-fourth streets by 
Mount JNI orris Square. The Harlem river, which begins 
at One Hundred and Twenty-seventh street and East 
river, flows for its greater length northwest and north, 
thus causing the sudden narrowing of the island at tiie 
north. There is nothing in which the stranger will be 
particularly interested in the east side of the city, 
between Central Park and the Harlem river. The Har- 
lem is crossed by a railroad bridge at Second avenue, 
connecting the Harlem river branch of the New 
York, New Haven & Hartford road and the suburban 
rapid transit system with the Second avenue 
branch of the Manhattan elevated railroad; at Third 
avenue by a bridge for foot passengers and vehicles; Ijy 
a railroad bridge connectecl with the Grand Central 
Depot system at Fourth avenue; by a bridge for foot pas- 
sengers and vehicles at Madison avenue; by what is 
known as the McComb's Dam Biidge or Central Bridge 
at McComb's Lane; by a bridge connecting the New 
York & Northern R. R. with the Manhattan elevated road 
at Eighth avenue; by High Bridge ([). 256), Washing- 
ton Bridge (p. 256), and King's Bridge, and by a railroad 
bridge at tiie point where Spuyten Duyvil creek enters 
the Hudson. In the annexed district, as so much of the 
city as lies above the Harlem river is called, are a num- 
ber of new parks which, when fully laid out, will add 
greatly to the beauty of this part of the city; the Catholic 
Protectory at Westchester; St. John's College, Fordham, 
a notable Catholic educational institution, and Woodlawn 
Cemetery. 



253 

West and Northwest of Central Park. — A new 
section of the«eity has been springing up west of Central 
Park and on the narrow northern end of Manhattan Is- 
land during the last ten yeai's. Tiiis promises to be 
the most beautiful quarter for residences on Manhattan 
Island, for the houses have been built since modern ideas 
of beauty and fitness have come into vogue. As a 
result there are entire blocks where houses are built in 
architectural harmony and monotonous rows of brown 
stone or brick are not to be seen here. This section 
of the city also has the additional advantage of a 
number of broad, well laid out thoroughfares (see 
Driving, p. 65). 

Riverside Park. — On this western sid5 of the city is 
Riverside Park, which runs along the bluff aJjove the 
river from Seventy-second to One Hundred and Twenty- 
ninth street a distance of nearly three miles, the average 
width being about 500 feet. It is really little more than 
a broad avenue laid out with a road, sidewalk and bridle 
path, the slope to the New York Central & Hudson River 
track being in a somewhat wild, unfinished state. A 
striking feature of the Park are the beautiful views of 
the I'iver which it affords. West End avenue, running 
parallel with it on the east is being built up with hand- 
some residences, and it is believed by real estate experts 
that the future home of fashion will be on these two 
avenues, it being the opinion that business will drive 
fashion eventually out of Fifth avenue. 

GranVs Tomb. — Near the upper part of Riverside 
Park is the tomb of General Grant, who was buried 
here August 8, 1885, with the honors of war, the pro- 
cession being the finest and the crowd of people the 
greatest ever seen or gathered in New York before the 
celebration of the Washington Inauguration Centennial. 
The tomb is now a plain vault, but the committee hav- 
ing in charge the monument to General Grant have 
chosen a design by John H. Duncan. This will be an 
imposing architectural memorial, having a square base 
100x100 feet at the ground line and a height of 160 feet 
in the base line. The lower part of the structure is to 
be of the Doric order and the upper of the Ionic. It is 
to be ci-owned by a dome supported by four arches, 
under which are galleries, from which a superb view up 



254 

the river and of ilie .surrouii(lin<jf country may be had. 
Tlie dome will he pyramidal and surmounted l)y a group 
of statuary. In the crypt, which will be of white 
granite, and will be reached by lear stairways and pro- 
tected from intrusion, are places for the display of 
banners, relics and personal souvenirs of Grant. The 
crypt is in an apse, so that the memorial hall, which is 
the main room on this floor, may be utilized for patri- 
otic or civic gatherings. Directly in front of the mani 
entrance there is to be an equestrian statue of Grant. 
The entire work will cost |500,0U0. 

At the end of Riverside Park is Claremont TTill. The 
Claremont, a restauraiit with excellent service, occui)ies 
the former residence successively of Viscount Courtenay 
(Earl of Devon) and of Joseph Bonaparte. Between the 
tomb and Claremont, right on the bluff, is a little mar- 
ble headstone marking the grave of a child. On account 
of its quaintness it has been allowed to renuiin there by 
the city authorities, and it will form a touching contrast 
to the grand structure of the Grant monument. It 
bears the inscription: "Erected to the memory of an 
amiable child, St. Clare Pollock. Died 15 July, 1797, 
in the 5 year of his age." A road descends from the 
Park to One Ilundred'and Tw^enty-seventh street, f'om 
which One Hundred and Twenty-fifth street, the main 
thoi-oughfare between the eastern and western extremity 
of the city at this point, is reached. Between the upper 
part of Riverside avenue and Morningside Park, which 
lattf-r runs from One Hundi-ed and Tenth street, at a 
point a little west of the northwestern extremity of Cen- 
tral Park to One Hundred and Twenty-third street, are 
on One Hundred and Twelfth street the site of the old 
Leake & Watts Orphan Home, whose grouiul is to be 
occu|)ied by the new Protestant Episcopal ('athedral of 
St. John the Divine, which will probably be the finest 
church structure in this country, and on spacious 
grounds bounded by the Boulevard and New Amster- 
dam (Tenth) avenue. One Hundred and Sixteenth and 
One Hundred and Twentieth streets, the Bloomingdale 
Insane Asylum, which is a department of the New York 
Hospital (p. 173). A good view of the u|)per part of the 
city, which is here a narrow strij) of high ground, 
between the Harlem and Hudson rivers, is obtained by 



255 

taldng the cable road (fis'e cents), which ruii.s from One 
Hundred and Twenty-fifth street to Fort George, One 
Hundred and Seventy-^ifth street, up New Amsterdam 
avenue, and then continuing, if the visitor so desires, on 
foot, crossing King's Bridge, and there taking the New 
York and Northern Railroad trains, wliich connect with 
the rapid transit system of the elevated roads, or the trains 
of the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad to 
the Grand Central Station. The various public and semi- 
public institutions of interest in this part of the city are, 
besides those referred to, the Convent of tiie Sacred Heart, 
a great Roman Catholic educational institution, occupy- 
ing a large tract of land which begins at St. Nicholas 
avenue and One Hundred and Twenty-sixth street; the 
Colored Orphan Asylum in Carmansville, on One Hun- 
dred and Forty-third street, between New Amsterdam 
and WestEndavenue&(p. 61); the Sheltering Aims, New 
Amsterdam avenue and One Hundred and Twenty-ninth 
street (p. 61); Hebrew Orphan Asylum, New Amsterdam 
avenue and One Hundred and Thirty-sixth street 
(p. 61); Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, Eleventh 
avenue and One Hundred and Sixty-second street (p. 
61) ; Juvenile Asylum, New Amsterdam avenue and 
One Hundred and Seventy-sixth street (p. 61); the 
Isabella Home, New Amsterdam avenue and One Hun- 
dred and Ninety-first street; tiie Thirty-second Precinct 
Police Station, New Amsterdam avenue and One Hun- 
dred and Fifty-third street, where there is an extensive 
collection of relics of the battle of Harlem Heights; 
the new cemetery of Trinity church, between New Am- 
sterdam avenue and Twelfth avenue, One Hundred and 
Fifty-tliird and One Hundred and Fifty-fifth streets, 
the two sections which are separated by the Boulevard, 
being connected by a bridge. It was especially in the 
vicinity of Trinity cemetery that the battle of Harlem 
Heights raged. At One Hundred and Forty-fifth street, 
a considerable distance back from New Amsterdam ave- 
nue, stands Hamilton Grange, the. residence of Alexan- 
der Hamilton, which lie left on the morning of July 
7th for Weehawken, where he fought his fatal duel with 
Burr. Near the old mansion are the thirteen trees 
planted in a circle by Hamilton as symbolic of the 
thirteen original States of the Union. Just above Trinity 



2ZCi 

cemetery is what is kowii as Au(liil)on Park, where Die 
distinguished ornit holoi;ist Audubon resieled, the grounds 
being now occupied by handsome residences. At One 
Hundred and Sixty-first street, overlooliing tiie Harlem 
River, is the old Jumel mansion, which was Washington's 
headquarters during the battle of Harlem Heights. This 
mansion was built by Roger Morris, wdio was struck 
with the beauty of its situation on his frequent rides to 
Yonkers, where ho was courting the beautiful Mary 
Philipse, of Philipse Manor, and to this mansion he 
brought her as his bride in the summer of 1758. Her 
name has been associated with Washington, whom >he 
is said to have captivated in 1756. The mansion sub- 
sequently passed into the hands of the celebrated 
Madame Jumel, who, after having been twice a widow, 
married Aai'on Burr, then 78 years old. 

High Bridge. — On the bold shores of the Harlem 
river between One Hundred and Seventieth and One 
Hundred and Seventy-fourth streets is High Bridge 
Park, in which there is a small reservoir, and a good 
restaurant. The river is spanned here by High Bridge, 
now overshadowed as a "sight" by the East River 
Bridge, but still one of the features of the landscope, 
along the Harlem. It was built to conduct the old 
Croton Aqueduct across the river. It is 1,460 feet long, 
and composed of tuirteen arches, the crown of thchighest 
being 116 feet above the river. Foot passengers only 
can cross the bridge. A fine feature of the view to the 
north is Washiiigton Bridge, which crosses the Harlem 
river at One Hundred and Kii2:hty-first street. It has two 
superb central arches of 510 feet span, their crowns 
being 135 feet above the river. The side arches, four on 
the west end and three on the east, are of granite faced 
with pressed stone. Just northwest of High Bridge 
between One Hundred and Seventy-third and One Hun- 
dred and Seventy-fifth streets are the buildings of the 
Juvenile Asylum. 

This portion of the city is called Washington Heights, 
and the station on the New York Central & Hudson 
River R. R., which runs along the foot of the bluff. Fort 
Washington. There were earthworks hero which the 
British captured in NovemV)er, 1776. Fort George, 
where the cable road stops, derives its name from a 



257 

redoubt wliicli was li(>re (liirin<^ tlie Revolution. The 
uppei- end of the ishuid is known as Innwood. 

Battle of Harlem Heights. — The Battle of Harlem 
Heights was fought September 16, 1776. Washington, 
after the battle of Long Island, crossed over to New 
York and retreating to the upper part of the island 
made his headquarters at the Apthorpe mansion, which 
stood at what is now the corner of Ninetj^-first street and 
Ninth avenue, until the fall of 1890, when it was torn 
down to make way for the opening of the street. Wash- 
ington was here l)ut a short time, and it is said that he 
liad not left it ten minutes to follow his retreating col- 
umn before Howe and his staff moved in. Washington 
then made his headquarters at the Morris house, now 
known as the Jumel mansion (see above). The British 
were thus in possession of what is now known as 
Bloomingdale Ileights, the Americans intrenching them- 
selves on Washi!ig;ton or Plarlem Heights, the battle, 
lu:»wever, always being spoken of as the battle of Harlem 
Heights. This elevation was separated by a ravine from 
l^loomingdale Heights, and although this district is all 
built up the depression along the line of the old ravine 
is still clearly discernible at One Hundred and Fifty- 
seventh street from the bridge over the Boulevard con- 
necting the two wings of Trinity Cemetery. 

The morning of September 16 Washington sent out 
Colonel Knowlton with 125 men to reconnoitre. De- 
scending a ravine, which led to the river thi'ough what 
is now Audubon Park, Knowlton followed the shore at 
the foot of the bluff to a point not far from the location 
of Grant's tomb. He and his soldiei's here climbed up 
the bhitf and came smldenly, just as the sun was rising, 
u[)on the left flank of tiie British vanguard, under 
General Leslie. The British rushed to attack the hand- 
ful of Americans. Knowlton, waiting till they came 
within six rods, poured a telling fire into their ranks. 
After eight rounds, fearing that he might be out-flanked 
and surrounded, he retreated slowly and in good order 
down the bluft", retracing his steps along the shore for 
about two and one-half miles, then, having climbed the 
west slope of the ravine, faced about, and, sending for 
reinforcements, stood his gi-ound. Leslie, leaving 300 
men in ambush on the river front, led 100 of his men on 



258 

to the edge of Bloomingdale Heights on the south side of 
the ravine. Washington orck'red Major Leitcii with his 
Virginia riflemen to join Knowllon and to endeavor, 
with Colonel Reid, to get in the rear of the enemy. 
The British, seeing a mere handful of Americans, 
rushed down the slope of the ravine to a fence near a 
little rivulet, which purled along the bottom of the 
ravine towards the Hudson. The Americans charged 
them, and after a sharp skirmish drove them back. By 
an error, the British reserves were attacked in the flank 
instead of in the rear, and at a point which is now One 
Hundred and Fifty-third street in the Boulevard 
Knowlton was killed, and Leitch also fell. The 
Americans were then reinforced and drove the British 
through the woods into a buckwheat field. It w\as now 
nearly noon, and Howe and his officers at Bloomingdale, 
hearing the firing in the direction of Harlem Heights, 
and beconnng uneasy for the safety al Leslie's com- 
mand, sent some 6.000 ])icked Highlanders and Hessian 
troops on the double-quick after him. Tliis attachment 
encountered Gen. Greene, and from 11 to 2:30 the battle 
raged over territory extending from Manhattanville or 
One Hundred and Thirty-fifth street to about One Hun- 
dred and Fifty-fifth street. The fiercest conflict of the 
day was waged on the ground now occupied by Trinity 
Cemetery. The British were finally driven down Break- 
neck Hill, a part of the old Kingsbridge Hoad. There 
were about 5,000 Americans to 6,000 picked British and 
Hessian troops, and the result of the battle not only 
gave Washington an opportunity to withdraw his forces 
witiiont further molestation, but also inspired his troops, 
who had found themselves able to cope successfully with 
the flower of Howe's command, with new courage, and 
did much to efface the demoralizing influence of the de- 
feat on Long Island. Tiie above is adopted from sev- 
eral greatly vai-ying amounts of the battle of Harlem 
Heights. 



CIIAPTEP. XII. 



PUBLIC CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 

Public Charities and Correction. — The Depart- 
ment of Public Charities and Correction has its head- 
quarters at 66 Third avenue, where permits to visit the 
city prisons and other institutions under its jurisdiction 
must be obtained. Amongthe prisons, the Tombs (p. 148), 
and the Jefferson Market prison (p. 172), are the most 
interesting to vii?it; and of the other institutions, Belle- 
vue hospital, the Morgue, and the institutions on Black- 
well's Island. The permit consists of a printed slip with 
a list of all the institutions under charge of the Depart- 
ment, but unless the olhcial signing it makes a cross 
against the insane asylums, the visitor will not be admitted 
to these. Boats for the various Island institutions which 
are situated respectively on Blackwell's Island, Ward's 
Island, Kandall's Island and Hart's Island leave foot of 
East Twenty-sixth street, in the immediate vicinity of 
Bellevue Hospital and the Morgue at 10:80 A. M. and 
1:30 P. M., Saturdays, Sundays and holidays excepted. 

Bellevue Hospilal. — Bellevue Hospital being situated 
near tiie starting point for the various islands at the foot 
of East Twenty-sixth street, may be visited most con- 
veniently at the time the trip to the islands is made. 
The entrance to the hospital is at the foot of East 
Twenty-sixth street. Patients are admitted upon the 
recommendation of a regular physician, or in case of 
accidents and sudden illness at any hour of the day or 
night. Visitors' hours are from 11 A. M. to 3 P. M. The 
liospital has a capacity of 700 beds. Patients able to 
pay ai-e charged $3.50 per week. The institution is 
managed by a board of physicians, which on the last day 
of every month assigns from its own members the physi- 
cians who are to have charge of the various wards for the 
ensuing month. The grades of junior and senior assist- 
ants, house physician or surgeon, the term of service 
being six months, have been adopted, and in the inspec- 



260 

tioii of tlie wards tho rules of the United States Military 
Hospital ])revail. The annual cost of the institution to 
the city is about $100,000. 

Morgue. — In the Bellevue Hospital j^rounds are the 
City's Dead-House and Morgue two of the ghastly sights 
of New York. In the Dead-House the bodies are 
cleansed and otherwise rendered as sightly as possible 
before being exposed in the Morgue. In the latter, 
whicii is a low one-story building, the corpses are laid out 
in an almost nude state on a row of marble slabs upon 
which jets of water constantly play. 

Bodies remaining unclaimed after seventy-two hours 
are buried in the City Cemetery. Clothes exhibited 
thirty days, and if not identified, preserved one year. 
Photographs of the corpse, with the registered number 
of the grave, also kept. 

BlackweW s Island. — Blackwell's Island was bought by 
Van Twiller, a Dutch Colonial Governor, in 1637. He 
stocked it with cattle. It subsequently passed into the 
possession of Capt. Manning, who so ignominiously 
surrendered New York to the Dutch. After having been 
publicly disgraced he retired to this island, which he 
subsequently settled upon his daughter Mary, who 
married Robert Blackwell,f rom whom it derives its name. 
The most southerly building on Blackwell's Island, a 
granite structure, formerly the small-pox hospital, is the 
residence for the female nurses of the Charity Hospital. 
Next to it is the Laundry, where work is done by women 
from the Work-House. The two wooden buildings just 
south of the Hospital are pavilions for epileptics. The 
Charity Hospital itself is a 4-story granite building ex- 
tending across tiie island, with a frontage of about 500 
feet on each branch of the East river. It has a capacity 
of 1,143 beds, engages the services of 125 attendants, and 
the average daily number of patients is 1,000. Last 
year about 8,000 patients were received here, and 7,303 
discharged. There were 504 deaths and 376 births. 
The most interesting department for visitors is the baby 
ward on the first floor. Every thing here as in the other 
wai'ds is spick and span, and every effort is made 
to kee]) the little ones as liappy as possible. Con- 
nected with the Hospital is a training-school for fenuile 
nurses, a library, and rooms for various charitable mis- 



261 

sions which seek to ameliorate the moral condition of the 
patients. The medical service of the Hospital is under 
the charge of a Ciiief of Staff with some 24 house 
physicians and assistants, who also perform medical 
service at the other institutions on the island. The 
house staff of 8 physicians and surgeons reside in the 
Hospital, and are appointed after a rigorous examination 
for a term of 18 months. 

North of the Ciiarity Hospital is the Penitentiary, 
whicli is also the County prison for women, there being 
no women in the various State prisons; each county be- 
ing by law compelled to take care of its own female 
criminals. This is a granite building, 600 feet long, 
containing 750 cells arranged in tiei's. The number of 
prisoners averages about 1,(00 a day, the total for last 
year being 8,042, of which 896 were women. A card 
with a record of each prisoner's crime, nan:ie, age, date 
of conviction and arrival, term of sentence and religion 
is attached to the outside of the cell. The best time to 
see the prisoners is at 12 o'clock, when they are at dinner, 
well guarded and compelled to maintain absolute silence. 
It is also interesting to watch them at work. They are 
compelled to follow various trades, such as carpentering 
and tailoring, and they also do a large amount of stone- 
cutting, there beins: sevei'al fiuari-ies on the island, the 
granite for the large buildings having come from them. 
Tiie convict labor law does not touch the Penitentiary 
l)ecause all the work here is done for the department 
itself. There are 50 blacksmiths, 110 shoe-makers and 
broom-makers and tailors ; about 70 carpenters and 
]minters, 2 or 3 upholsterers, 35 tinsmiths and plumbers, 
20 clothing-cutters and about 120 stone-cutters. Most of 
the women are employed in sewing or chamber work in 
the female prison. Besides this, the Penitentiary fur- 
nishes all the unskilled labor for the department. The 
hours of work are from 7 A. M. to 5:80 P. M. in sum- 
mer and 4:30 P. M. in winter. In the quarry the men 
are under a heavy guard, and in case of foggy weather 
they are massed together and surrounded, in order to 
prevent their escape by the river. They proceed to or 
from their work by the lock-step. 

The criminal, on entering the Penitentiary, is first 
taken to the burbey shop, where he is shaved and has his 



262 

hair cut, is balliod, weij^lied and measured, has his de- 
scription noted, is dressed in a striped suit and assigned 
to work. There are good bathing-houses along the river 
front which the prisoners may use in summer. Books 
may l)e taken from the library for two weeks at a time. 
Prisoners are allowed to receive visitors and write a let- 
ter once in four weeks. Besides the guards on the island 
there are guard-boats constantly patrolling the river. 
North of the Penitentiary is tlie Penitentiary farm and 
the dwelling of the Superintendent. The quarry is at 
the head of the Penitentiary grounds. 

The Alms House is next above these. Attached to it 
is a hospital for females. The old Blackwell homestead 
is occupied by the Warden. In mild weather the rows of 
benches under the shady trees are occupied by poor old 
men and women. Conspicuous on these grounds is the 
Protestant Episcopal Chapel of the Good Shepherd, 
erected in 1888 by George Bliss as a memorial of his 
wife. In the basement of the chapel is a large reading- 
room. A Roman Catholic mission is also maintained at 
the Alms House, and various guilds do good work here. 

Above the Alms House are the Fire Engine House and 
the Gas-works. The IVor/v House beyond is rather a dis- 
agreeable place to visit; its inmates usually belonging to 
the class known as " drunks," the lowest order of crim- 
inals — the very scum and refuse of a great city. 

The total admissions for last year were 22.477, of 
whom 11,706 were males and 10,771 were fejnales. Be- 
yond here is the female Insane Asylum. 

WanVs Island is more attractive looking than Black- 
well's, but not as interesting to the visitor. It contains 
some 200 acres, and so much of it as is not occupied by 
buildings is well laid out. The Department of Public 
Charities and Correction has charge here of the Male 
Insane Asylum and a Homeopathic Hospital. The In- 
sane Asylum is an imposing structure of brick trimmed 
with gray stone. Invalid soldiers of the civil war who 
enlisted in city regiments are provided for in a pleasant 
nome on this island. 

RandaWs Island, separated from Ward's Island by 
Little Hell Gate, and divided from the Westchester 
shore by the Harlem Kills, lies in the mouth of the 
Hftvlem river. yuO^r the Oomniissioners gf J*wbliQ 



263 

Cliarities ami Correction are the Idiot Asylum and 
other institutions ]trovided by the city for destitute 
children — the Nui'sery, Chihlren's and Infants' hospitals 
and various schools. Besides these there is on the south- 
ern end of the island a House of Refuge, a fine building 
under the care of the Society for the Reformation of 
Juvenile Delinquents; the buildings and grounds, which 
are finely laid out, occupying about 30 acres. Children 
sentenced by police magistrates are brought to this insti- 
tution whose inmates number about 900. 

Hart's Island lies between Sand's Point and Pelham 
Neck on Long Island Sound. Here are a branch Luna- 
tic Asylum, Hospital, Work-House and City Cemetery 
(the Potter's Field) where about 2,500 unknown and 
paupers are annually interred. Here are 75,000 drunk- 
ards' graves. A soldiers' monument is the only memorial 
stone in this pathetic piece of ground. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



ENVIRONS. 

The most aUraciive tours in the vicinity of New York 
are those of the Long Island aiul Jersey Coast resorts, 
and of the Hudson River. Greenwood Lake (New York 
and Greenwood Lake R. R.), partly in New York State 
and partly m New Jersey, and Lake Hopaicong (Del- 
aware, Lackawanna & Western R. R.) in the Highlands 
of New Jersey are also w^orth visiting. Tlie Delaware 
Water Gap, though not properly speaking within the 
environs of New York, should also be mentioned, as it 
can be reached (Delaware, Lackawaima & Western R. R. 
ferries from Christopher and Barclay streets) in about 
three and a half hours and is one of the grandest [)as- 
sages of scenery in the United States. 

Long Island. — Long Island is 115 miles long, averag- 
ing 12 miles in width. The summer resorts are on the 
ocean or south shore. A sandy barrier extends some 
distance out from the main shore nearly the whole length 
of the island and th.e ocean [)enetrating it through nar- 
row inlets lias formed several fine bays, the largest of 
whicli is the Great South Bay. 

Brooklyn. — Brooklyn, the third largest city in the 
United States in point of population (over 804,000), and 
the fourth largest in manufacturing and commercial 
interests, is on Long Island, opposite New York. To 
strangers the point of greatest atti-action in Brooklyn is 
the United States Navy Yard, on the south shore of 
Wallabout Bay, best reached by elevated railroad from 
the East River Bridge. The area of the Navy Yard is 
144 acres, with a water front of over a mile. The Yard 
proper, 45 acres, is inclosed by a high wall. Two dry- 
docks, one 286 feet long bv 35 feet wide at the bottom, 
and 307 by 98 feet at the top and 36 feet deep, the other 
465 feet long by 210 wide, the latter for the docking of 
the modern war ships of the United States Navy, are 
^moiig th(? »u>s^ conspicuous features of the Yard. 



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VICINITY 

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NEW YORK 



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265 

Perhaps even more interestino: than tliese are the 
modem war vessels, one or several of whicli are nsiuilly 
moored here, and also the vessels upon wliich construc- 
tion is in progress. The United States Nav^l Lyceum, 
founded in 1883, has besides an extensive library, col- 
lections of curiosities gathered during cruises in foreign 
seas, and fine geological and mineralogical cabinets. 
The 21 well kept acres surrounding the Naval Hospital 
form a pretty feature of the Yard. 

Prosjject Park, situated on high ground in the south- 
western part of Brooklyn, commands a superb view of 
both the Upper and Lower Bays to the Atlantic Ocean. 
It is best reached by the Flatbush avenue cars from Ful- 
ton ferry. An excellent idea of the Park can l)e had by 
taking the Park carriages (25 cents), which convey the 
visitor to the highest point of the Park, Lookout Car- 
riage Concourse, from which a fine view is to be had. 
The C)cean Parkway, a superb thoroughfare 210 feet 
wide, leads from Prospect Park to the ocean, six miles 
distant. At the principal entrance to the Park, the 
Plaza on Flatbush avenue, is a memorial arch to the 
soldiers and sailors of the Civil War and a statue of 
Lincoln. 

Oreenwood Cemetery, superbly located on a height 
overlooking New York Harbor, is reached by elevated 
railroad from the Brooklyn terminus of tiie East River 
Bridge. 

Coney Island is the great seaside excursion resort for 
the populace of New York and Brooklyn and their sub- 
urbs, though the westerly part of the Island, known as 
Brighton Beach and ]\tanhattan Beach are more ex- 
clusive. At West Brighton, where two iron piers extend 
1,000 feet into the ocean, affording not only a landing 
for the boats of the Iron Steamboat Co., but also accom- 
modations for restaurants, bath houses and promenades, 
are Cable's. Vanderveer's and the West Brighton liotels, 
where good, yet comparatively inexpensive accommoda- 
tions may be had; the Elephant Hotel, built in the form 
of a mammoth pachyderm; an observatory 300 feet high, 
commanding a superb view; and untold numbers of 
small shows of all kinds, eating houses, and resorts of 
varied character. The Ocean Parkway, from Prospect 
Park, Brooklyn, ends at tiie more easterly of the two 



26G 

iron piers. The Concourse leads from AVest Brigliton to 
Brighton Beach, where there is a spacious hotel, witii 
large dining rooms and piazzas. Beyond it is Manhattan 
Bea,ch, which, with its adjunct, the Oriental Hotel, 
forms the most exclusive resort on the Island. Music 
every day during the season at 2 and 7:30 P. M. Ad- 
mission 10 cents and 25 cents. Fireworks every night; 
admission, with reserved seat, 50 cents. Strangers de- 
siring to see Coney Island under the most favorable cir- 
cumstances, are advised to stop either at the Manhattan 
or Oriental, and make detours from there. 

Rockaway Beach. — Manhattan Beach is connected by 
a ferry, 10 cents, with Rockaway Beach, another great 
excursion resort, wiiich a stranger desiring to study the 
characteristics of the populace will find interesting. It 
is reached from New York by the Long Island Railroad 
(Thirty-fourth street ferry), round trip 50 cents, and by 
steamboats (p. 30). The scene at Rockaway Beach re- 
sembles that on the popular portion of Coney Island. 

Lo7ig Beach. — East of Rockaway Beach, 24 miles from 
New York, is Long Beach, reached by the Long Island 
Railroad. Thebdch here is one of the best on Long 
Island, for surf bathing and tiiere are boating, yacht- 
ing and fishing m Hempstead Bay. The Long Beach 
Hotel is large and well conducted. A railway leads to 
Point Lookout at the extreme eastern end of Long 
Beach, 4}^ miles from the hotel. There are at Point 
Lookout a good hotel and a numl)er of cottages, 

Babylon and Fire Island. — Babylon, which lies on the 
mainland of the Great South Bay, 'affords excellent fish- 
ing, bathing and boating, and has an excellent hotel in 
the Argyle. Across the bay from Babylon is Fire Is- 
land, a long, luirrow strip of sand, reached from Baby- 
lon by steamer. There are fine surf bathing, and in the 
bay still water bathing; and excellent blue fishing. The 
Surf House is a large, well-kept hotel. 

Jersey Coast.*— Those Jersey Coast resorts which 
may be properly classed as among the environs of New 
York — say to Elberon— are reached by the Jersey 
Southern route (boat from foot Rector street to Sandy 

*DetHlled accounts of the Jersey Coast resorts from Sandy 
Hook to Atlantic City and of Lakewood will be found in 
'* Kobbe's Jersey Coast and Pines." 



267 

Hook) and by the New York and Long Branch R. R., 
operated by tlie Central R. R. of New Jersey (ferry from 
foot of Liberty street to Jersey City) and the Pennsyl- 
vania R. R. (ferry from foot of Cortlandt street). Of 
these the Jersey Southern is the most delightful, a 
fleet of fine steamers, including the two fast, twin-screw 
steamers Sn?idi/ Hook and JIoDmouth and the St. Johns, 
which, until the first two named were built, was the 
fastest boat on the bay, plying between the foot of Rector 
street and Sandy Hook. The train, after running for a 
short distance through the woods on Sandy Plook, 
emerges upon the beach, in full view of the ocean 
on one side and the Navesink river on the other, 
so that the railroad trip from the Hook is cool and 
refreshing. 

From Highland Beach, the first stop, a bridge crosses 
the Navesink to the maiidand, the Highlands of Nave- 
sink, among which Fenimore Cooper laid the scene of 
his romance, "The Water Witch." 

Lighthouse Hill is named from the picturesque twin 
lighthouses, the " Highland Lights." which stand on its 
small, bare plateau, semi-encircled by thick woods. 

Navesink Beach, adjoining Highland Beach, consists 
cf cottages extending to Normandie-by-the-Sea, a first- 
class hotel (open June 15-October 1), capable of accom- 
modating 300 guests. It commands a fine view of both 
ocean and river. Extending from this hotel to Seabright 
is Eumson Beach (formerly Stokem's), a line of pretty 
summer cottages. 

Seabright is one of the gayest resorts on the coast. On 
the Ruinson Road, not far from the Jumping Point 
Drawbridge, are the house and grounds of the Seabright 
Lawn-Tennis and Cricket Clul). On Rumson Neck are 
some of the finest country residences in the United 
States. Hot els at Seabright: Octagon, $4; Hotel Shrews- 
bury, $3.50. A picturesque feature of Seabright is the 
fishing vilhige ol: Nauvoo. 

The great charms of Monmouth Beach are its privacy 
and refinement. The nearest approach to a hotel is the 
Club House, in which are a few sleeping apartments and 
a spacious dining-room, the latter for the use of the oc- 
cupants of some 25 cottages, which are let to friends of 
the regular cottagers. Thei'e is a Casino, with hall 



2G8 

and a stage for private theatricals, a bowling-alley and a 
billiard-room. 

Long Branch is often spoken of as the " Bi'ighton 
of America."' It derives its name from the adjacent 
branch of the Shrewsbury river. It is known to have 
been in 1734 a camping ground of the Cranberry Indians. 
In 1753 a conference was held at Crosswicks between the 
Indians and fonr settlers from Rhode Island to arrange 
for the purchase by the latter of a portion of the State 
which now includes Long Bi-anch. After much palaver, 
it was agreed that they should be allowed to buy as much 
land as a man could walk around in a day if one of them 
could throw an Indian champion in a wrestling match. 
John Slocum, a man of large size and athletic strength, 
was the white champion. After a long struggle he threw 
his man. 

The Long Branch of to-day is a sea-shore cosmopolis. 
The features which attract the vast summer tiirong to it 
probably repel as many, if not more, from it, a circum- 
stance to which the majority of the more rational resorts 
on the coast doubtless owe their origin. The leading 
characteristics of Long Branch may be described in one 
sentence: It supports numerous hotels, clairches and a 
synagogue; the "tiger" has two sui)erbly appointed 
jungles, in one of which at least one nuin is known to 
have left of a single night $25,000 for the voracious 
animal to paw over and devour; it is •' fashionable' in 
the sense in which the word is used by those who fondly 
imagine that lavish display of wealth is evidence of high 
social position. 

Yet, as there are islands in a rushing, roaring stream, 
so there are some spots in Long Branch where the noisy 
throng have not intruded. Besides many private cot- 
tages there are the fine hotel, cottages and grounds of 
Hollywood, near the West End station, a settlement 
within itself, under one management and including a 
huge batiiing pavilion shut in by high walls from the 
gaze of the ignohile vulgns and for the use of the Holly- 
wood guests only. Another jiavilion is that of the West 
End Hotel, a first-class establishment. 

Ocean avenue toward evening is ])robably the liveliest 
thoroughfare in the United States. Here one can see 
almost every kind of vehicle — stages crowded with ex- 



2G9 

cursionists, buggies drawn by swift roadsters, tandems, 
four-iii-haiids, T-carts, etc., many of them perfectly ap- 
pointed and each interesting in its own way, as repre- 
senting one of the many types of people to be found at 
this resort. 

A short distance from Long Branch is the Monmouth 
Park race-track (p. 65). 

Elberon, a continuation of Long Branch on the south, 
is one of the most com{)lete and elegant resorts on the 
Jersey coast, with much the same refined and exclusive 
characteristics as Monmoutli Beach. The Elberon 
Casino was incor[)orated in 1882 with a capital of $50,000, 
and the company also erected the admirable hotel called 
the Elberon (from $4 upward). Among the handsome 
residences of this place is the Francklyn cottage, 
rendered famous as the refuge to which President Gar- 
field was brought, and where he was lulled into his final 
sleep by the murmurof thesea. General Grant's former 
summer home is also at Elberon. 

Among the resorts south of Elberon are Ashury Park 
and Ocea/ti Grove, two populous summering ])laces, 
largely dominated by the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
camp meetings and other religious exeicises being a 
feature of life at the "Grove." Seagirt, still further 
south, is one of the most lefined and delightful resorts 
on the coast, the Beach House being patronized by a 
number of refined New York and Philadelphia families. 

From Long Branch to the south there runs back of the 
coast a section of New Jersey which is thickly wooded 
with pines. Lakewood, reached by fast trains of the 
Central R. R. of New Jersey, foot of Liberty street, is 
a charming winter I'fesort in this balmy foi'est. (Laurel 
House and Hotel Lakewood.) 

]lui)SOX River. — For natural beauty there is no trip 
out of New York City comparable with a tour of the 
Hudson River by steamboat. The boats of the Albany 
Day Line leave the foot of Vestry street at 8:45 A. M., 
and foot of West Twenty-second street at 9 A. M., due 
at Albany at 6 P. M. Boats of this line leave Albany in 
tiie morning, and it is possible to take the morning boat 
from New York to West Point, which may properly be 
considered tiie extreme northern limit of the environs of 
New York as covered by this book, and return by a boat 



970 

of tho sanio line in tlie afternoon. Round trip, $1. 
Other boats by which tlie trip up tlie Hudson can be 
made, but without tlie facility for returning? to New 
York the same day, are: Mary Powell, considered the 
swiftest steamboat in the world, entering the High- 
lands on the trip up the river about sunset, when the 
scene along this beautiful stretch of the Hudson is most 
inspiring. The Albany night boats leave foot of Canal 
street at 6 P. M., and the Troy night boats foot of Chris- 
tojjher at 6 P. M., both arriving at their destinations at 
6 o'clock the next morning; fare $3, exclusive of meals. 
(See, also, p. 30). 

Railroads which afford glimpses of the most beautiful 
points on the river are the New York Centi'al and Hud- 
son River R. R, along the east bank to Albany, and the 
New York, West Shore and Buffalo R. R. on the west 
shoi-e to Albany (p 26). 

The Trip by Steamboat. — Before the end of the Island 
of Manhattan is reached, the Palisades rise in sheer 
ascent to a height of 300 feet from the river's west bank, 
forming a columnar trap-rock preci|)ice of unique 
grandeur 20 miles in length. The old Revolutionary 
fortification. Fort Lee, was on the brow of the Palisades 
at a point about opposite the present Fort Washington, 
(One Hundred and Eighty-first to One Hundred and 
Eighty-fifth streets) where the Revolutionary fort of 
that name stood. There are large excursion grounds at 
Fort Lee. Spuyten Duyvil Creek comes into the river 
at the end of the Island of Manhattan. Fifteen miles 
from New York, on the east shore, lies 3It. St. Vincent, 
the site of the convent in charge of the Ladies of the 
Sacred Heart. Two miles further up the river, on the 
same shore, is the city of Yoiikers, and five miles beyond 
this, Dobbs' Ferry. At Piermont, twenty-two miles up 
the western shore, the river widens out and assumes a 
lake-like appearance, and is locally known as Tappan 
Zee, a reach of ten miles by four miles at its widest 
point. Washington had his headquarters at Tappan, 
about three miles southwest of Piermont, and here Major 
Andre was imprisoned and executed October 2, 1780. 
The headquai'ters still stands, and the site where Andre's 
execution took place is also pointed out. On the east 
shore of Tappan Zee, four miles above Dobbs' Ferry, is 



271 

Iri'inr/fon, where Washington Irving resided in his pretty- 
cottage, Sunnyside, which, though near the shore, can- 
not be seen from the river, because of the sheltering 
trees and siirnbhery. The next settlement on tiie east 
shore is Tarrytown, which overlooks Tappan Zee at its 
widest point. All this region has been invested with 
a romantic interest by Irving's sketches. Irving's 
house at Irvington is the original of Wolferfs Roost. 
Tiie valley of Sleepy Hollow lies along the course of Mill 
river, but a little way north of Tarrytown, and over the 
stream the traveler can still cross by the stone bridge 
made famous by Irving in his sketch of Ichabod Crane. 
Near the old Dutch Church in this valley, which is the 
oldest religious structure in this State (1699) is the 
spot where Andre was captured by three American 
minule-men while on his way to the British lines just 
after he had concluded the negotiation for the treason of 
Benedict Arnold. Opposite Tarrytown is the pretty su- 
burban and summer residence place, Nyack. Just above 
is High Torn, a grand old headland, and near it 
Rockland Lake, wliich cannot, however, be seen from the 
river. About opposite Rockland Lake is Sing Sing, where 
one of the New York State prisons is situated, the great 
buildings having been constructed of marble and lime- 
stone from local quarries. Above Sing Sing is a promi- 
nent headland known as Croton Point, the Croton river 
here entering the Hudson (p. 11). At the foot of the 
northern slope of the Dunderberg on the west shore is 
Haverstraiv. Here in a house then belonging to Joshua 
Hett Smith and still standing. Arnold and Andre met to 
arrange finally for the surrender of West Point, and it 
was after crossing the river from here that Andre was 
captured. The widening of the river is known as Hav- 
erstraw Bay, and as the boat enters this, the Highlands 
are seen in the distance above. Stony Point, on the 
western shore, at the northern end of Haverstraw Bay, 
is a rocky promontory marked by a light-house, and 
was, in the Revolution, the site of a fort captured by 
the British June 1, 1779, re-captured at the point of the 
bayonet in a brilliant charge up the declivity lead by 
Mad Anthony Wayne, midnight of July 15th, 1779, and 
abandoned for lack of the necessary force to hola it. 
PeekslxiJl, on the east Ijaidv, not far above Stony Point, 



272 

is the site of tlie State Militia Camp, which is located 
oil what is known as Anthony's Nose, a short distance 
above the town. In the river-bed, near CahhveWs Land- 
ing, at the foot of Dunderberg Mountain, opposite 
Peekskill, Captain Kidd is supposed to have buried part 
of his treasure, and search for it has been made from 
time to time — once by a regularly organized company 
with extensive apparatus. Dunderberg Mountain,on the 
west shore, and Anthony's Nose, on the east, form the 
southern gates of the "Highlands, the most beautiful 
passage of the river. Tiie little island lying near the 
entrance is lona Island, a picnic ground. Just above 
Anthony's Nose is Sugar Loaf Jlountain, (865 feet), so 
called from its peculiar shape. It was while breakfast- 
ing with Col. Beverly Robinson in a house still stand- 
ing at the foot of Sugar Loaf Mountain that Arnold re- 
ceived the news of Andre's arrest, and fled to the Vul- 
ture, a British vessel anchored down the river. At Buf- 
termilk Falls, on tie west bank, a series of cascades 
coming down from an elevation of 100 feet into the 
river, is Cranston's Hotel, and but a short distance above 
it, West Point. Opposite West Point is Garrisons. Those 
who desire to continue the trip through the Highlands 
to Newhurgh will find on the westbjink the superb head- 
land of Crow Nest (1,428 feet) where J. Rodman Drake 
laid the scene of his "Culprit Fay, "and above it the Storm 
Ki7ig {1,629 feet). Cold Spring, above Garrisons, rests 
upon the slope of Mount Taurus. Nestling on the 
northern sloi)e of the Storm King is the pi-etty village 
of Cormvall. Between it and Newburgh is A^eiv Wiridsor, 
and opposite Newburgh FishMll Landing. Neivhurgli is 
not as interesting a place for a sojourn as West Point, 
but the visitor can while away an hour at Washington's 
headquarters, the old stone mansion south of the town 
built in 1750, where, June 23, 1783, the Revolutionary, 
army was disbanded. The State, which owns the house, 
has gathered in it a collection of Revolutionary relics. 
The grounds about the house command a view of the 
superb entrance to the Flighlands. 

\Vest Point.— At West Point is the United States Mil- 
itary Academy, wdiose buildings stand upon a beautiful 
plateau at tlie foot of Crow Nest, 157 feet above the 
river. The road leading from the landing is cut out of 



873 

the cliff of solid rock. Among the buildings are the 
Cadets' Barracks, the Academic Building, both of stone, 
the latter containing class-rooms, laboratories and gym- 
nasiums; the Mess Hall, the Chapel, and the Museum 
of Ordnance and Trophies. The low building on the 
terrace below the library is the Riding Hall. Beautiful 
views of the river are commanded from West Point, 
more especially, however, from Trophy Point to the 
north, which derives its name from the captured cannon 
to be seen there. Here is also a portion of the chain 
which the Americans stretched across the Hudson in 
1778 to prevent the passage of British vessels up the 
river. At Fort Clinton, on the northeast angle of the 
plateau, is a monuuient to Koscuisko, which the cadets 
erected 1828. Flirtation Walk, where every cadet is 
supposed to lose his heart more or less frequently, is a 
path along the bank of the river sheltered from view by 
trees and shrubbery. On the parade ground is a bronze 
statue of Major-General Sedgwick, killed at the battle 
of Spottsylvania, May 9, 1864, and an obelisk to Lieut. - 
Col. Wood, who was killed at the head of a sortie from 
Fort Ei'ie, Canada, in 1814. In the cemetery are, among 
other notable monuments, the Cadets' Monument, a 
castellated column surmounted by an urn aud trophy, 
atul a massive sarcophagus beneath wliich rest the re- 
mjiinsof Gen. Winfield Scott. The best time to visit 
West Point is during June, July and August, but more 
especially at the time when the exercises and drills pre- 
paratory to graduation are taking place. These usually 
occur in June. Near West Point, 600 feet above the 
river, on Mount Independence, are the ruins of the Rev- 
olutionary Fort Putnam, from winch a superb view is 
had. The West Point Hotel ($4.0U a day) is at the north 
of the plateau and Cranston's Hotel ($4.00 a day) the 
accommodations of which are unexceptionable, is near 
enough to enable its guests to enjoy all the varied sights 
of West Point. 

Staten Island*. — Sailors' Smcg Harbor: This is an 
institution with an annual income of about $100,000, 
situated on the north shore of Staten Island. It is 
reached by ferry from foot of Whitehall street to St. 

*For description of Staten Island, see "Kobbe's Staten 
Island." 



274 

George and tlienee by train to Sailors' Snug' Harbor sta- 
tion. (Karc 10 cents; time 80 niin. from New York.) To 
the JIarbor sailors of every nationality are admitted, the 
only requirement for admission being that tliey have had 
a five years' sea service under tiie Siars and Stripes, and 
are incapable of self-support. Here are blind sailors, lame 
sailors, sailors without legs, sailors without arms, and 
sailors physically and mentally sound, but perhaps too 
old to stand the exposure of a mariner's life. They have 
everything they need, including tobacco, and one of the 
forms of punishment is to deprive Jack of iiis pipe. On 
all secular days the visitor is welcomed and inmates of 
the institution are very gUul to act as guides, for an 
optional tee. through the grounds and buildings. 

Glen Island. — A popular excursion ground in Long 
Island Sound, near New Rochelle. Reached by steam- 
boats making many trips daily. See advertisements in 
newspapers. 



iisrr)^:x. 



With the Nearest Elevated Eaiboad Stations to the Principal 
Points of Interest. 

PAGE 

Academy of Design— 23cl street— All lines 174 

Academy of Music 167 

Albany Day Line— Desbrosses— 9th ave.; Grand bt.- 6th a v. 30 

American Antiquities 225 

American Museum of Natural History— 81st street- 6th ave. 231 

Anchor Line Steamers— Houston— 9th ave 24 

Ancient Sculpture 204. 209 

Annexed District 12. 252 

Apprentices' Library 168 

Approaches by Water 16 

Aquatics 66 

Architectural Cas' s 204 

Aqueducts 12 

Armory, 7ih Refft.-67th St.— 3d ave.; 65th st. -2d ave 251 

Army Building?, U. S 79 

Asbury Park 269 

Assay Office, U. S 107 

Astoria Ferry— 92d stieet— 2d avenue ; 89th street— 3d ave.. 32 

A stor Estate 181 

Astor Library— 8th street— 6th avenue; 9th street— 3d ave.. 155 

Athletics 64 

Audubon Park 256 

Bagf^age Inspection 29 

Bank of New York 112 

Bankers 49 

Banks 49 

Bartholdi Statue— South Ferry— All lines 69 

Barge Office— South Ferry— All lines 76 

Base-ball 65 

Baths 46 

Battery, The— South Ferry— All lines 76 

Baxter street 143 

Bay Riige Ferry— South Ferry— All lines 3i 

Bedloe's Island— (see Bartholdi Statue.) 

Bellevue Hospital 259 

" Bend," The— Chatham Square— 3d ave 143 

Benevolent Societies 61 

Bible House— Ninth street— 3d ave 158 

Bicycling 66 

Billiards 43 

Blackweirs Island 260 

Bleecker Street Bank for Savings 154 

Bloomingdale Insane Asylum -116th street --6th nve 254 

Board of Education —Grand street— 3d and Gth aves 150 

Boarc^ of Ji^^ltii— Houston ?tree wa ave ..... m 153 



276 

Boreel Building 116 

Bowery— Houston , Grand, Chatham Square— 3d ave 144 

Bowling Green— South Ferry— All lines 84 

Brentano's -Fourteenth street— Gth and 3d aves 1(36 

Broad street 109 

Broadway 14 

Broadway— No. 1— Battery Place— 6tti & 9th aves 85 

Washington at 86 

" '* Benedict Arnold at 86 

Putnam at 86 

BrooJklyn 18, 2(>4 

Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall -2d and Sd aves 138 

Bryant Park 183 

BremeuLine- (seeHobokeuaiidChrij.t()pherStreet Ferries),23, 25 

Cab and Coach Fares 34 

Cable Rates 53 

Calumet Clul) 180 

Canal Street 148, 150 

Castle Garden— South Ferry All lines 77 

Catharine Street Ferrv ( 'hathain Square— 2d and 3(1 aves. . 32 

Cathedral— Pr()tt'^<t;mt Fpiscopal 255 

Roman Catholic 189 

Altars in 191 

" " " Windows in 192 

Central Park 2:« 

Lower Entrance— 59th St.— 3d, 6th, and 9th aves. 

Central Entrance, East Side— 84th st.— 3d ave. 

Central E?i trance. West Side— 81st St.— 6th ave. 

Up{)er Kiitraiiee lUtUh st.- 3d ave.; 116th St.— 6th ave. 

Central Park Apartm.*nt Houses 199 

Central R. R. of N. J.-Cortlandt-6th and 9th aves 27 

Cenf ti r 1/ ComiYciny 166 

Cesnola Collection 210 

Chamber of Commerce 118 

Charity 60 

Chatham Square 144 

Citizens' Line— Christopher st.— 9th ave.; Stii st — 6th ave. . . 30 

Cherry street 142 

Chickering Hall 173 

Chinatown 144 

Christopher Street Ferry— 9th ave.; 8th St.— 6th ave 22 

Chop Houses 42 

City Hall-2d & 3d avs.; Park PI— 6th av.; Warren - 9th av. 132 

City Hall Park 127,131 

City Hall Park, Liberty Boys at 131 

Claremont 254 

Cleopatra's Needle— (see Obelisk.) 

Clubs 63 

Colleges 63 

College of Physcians and Surgeons— 59th St.— 6th & 9th aves. 200 

College Point Ferry— 92d St., 2d ave. & 99th St.— 3d ave 32 

Collegiate Dutch Church 124. 181. 186 

Colored Orphan Asylum 255 

Columbia College— 50th St.— 6th ave.; 47th st.— 3d ave 186 

Commerce 15 

Concerts 45 

Coney Island.,,.-. !^65 



277 

PAGE 

Convent Sacred Heart— 125th st— 3d and 6th aves 255 

Cooke, Georj^e Frederick, Monument to 126 

Cooper Union— 8th St.— 6th ave.; 9th st.-3d ave 157 

Cotton Exchange— Hanover square— 2nd and 3d aves 112 

Cricket 66 

Cunard Line— Houston— 9tli & .3d aves.; Bleeckcr— 6th ave. 24 

Custom House— Rector— West side ; Hanover sq— East side. 113 

Customs Inspection 29 

Cyclorama 46 

Dakota Apartment House *- 00 

Deaf and Dumb Asylum 255 

Deaf Mute Asylum 251 

Delaware, Lackawanna & West. R.R.— (see Hoboken Ferry) 27 

Delmonico's 41,112,177 

Detaille, " Defence of Champigny," by 217 

De Vinne Press 155 

Directories 68 

Divine Service , 46 

Division street 145 

Driving 65 

Eden Musee 45, 174 

East River 18 

East River Bridge— (see Brooklyn Bridge.) 

Ellis Island-South Ferry— All lines 72 

Emmet, Thomas Addis, Monument to 126 

Environs 264 

Equitable BuihHiig 116 

Essex Market PoIi(^e Court 151 

EreiihK/ Post liuilding 122 

Exchaime Place 110 

Excise Board 151 

Express Sprvice 53 

Elevated Railroads 36 

Fall River Steajners Park PI.— 6th ave. ; Warren- '.»tli ave. . 31 

Farragnt, Statue of 177 

P'ederalHall 102 

•" Washington Inaugurated at 102 

Ferries 32 

Fifth avenue 169 

Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church 199 

Fifth Avenue Stages 171 

Fire Department 251 

Five Points 145 

Food Supply 12 

Foreign Consuls 48 

Fort Amsterdam 19 

"• George 255 

"■ Hamilton 17 

" Lafayette 17 

" Schuyler 18 

'' Wadsworth 17 

" Washington 256 

Foundhng Asylum 251 

Faunces' Tavern 80 

French Line— Houston— 9th ave. ; Bleecker— 6th ave 24 

French Quarter 169 

Fulton Ferry- Fulton— 2nd and 3d aves 32 



278 

PAGE 

Fulton Market 122 

Fulton street 122 

Fulton btieet Prayer Meeting,' 122 

Gentlemen's Kidiny- Club 201 

Gernum Hospital— 76th St.- 3d ave.; 75tb St.- 2d ave 39 

Glen Island — 274 

Goelet Residences 18G 

Golden Hill^First blood shed for American Independence. . 131 

Gould, Jay, residence of 185 

Governor's Island— South Ferry— All lines 74 

(ioverU' )r's Room in City Hall 134 

Grace Church 165 

Gramercy Park 167 

Grand Central Depot— Forty-second street— All lines 26, ]84 

Grand street 150 

Grand Street Ferry— Grand— 2d, 3d, and 6th aves 32 

Grant's Tomb— 125th St.— 3d and 6th aves 253 

Greeley, Horace, Statue of 132 

Greenpoint Ferry— Twenty-third street— All lines 32 

Greenwood Cemetery. . . .' 264 

Guion Line— Hoiiston- 3d and 9th aves.; Bleecker— 6th av. . 21 
Guttenberg Bible— (see Lenox Library.) 
Hamburjrh Line Steamers— (see Hoboken Ferry.) 

Hamilton Grange 255 

Hamilton Ferry- South Ferry— All lines. 

Harbor Police 77 

Harlem Heij-'lits— Battle of 255, 257 

Harlem Railroad— Forty second street— All lines 26 

Harlem River 252 

Harper »fc Bros.— Franklin square— 3d and 2d aves 141 

Hart's Island 262 

Hell Gate 18 

Hiiih Bridge 12. 2.56 

Historical Society " 160 

History.. 19 

Hoboken Ferry— Barclay— 9th ave.— (see Christopher st.). . . 32 

Hospitals 60 

Hotel s 39 

Houst»)n Street Ferry— 1st st.-2nd ave.; Bleecker— 6th ave. 32 

Hudson River 269 

Hudson Hiver Railroad— Forty-second street— All lines — 26 

Hunter's Point Ferry— 34th street Ferry— 2d and 3d aves 32 

Huntiiifiton. C. P., residence of 189 

Immitjrant Depot 72 

Inman Line— Christopher— 9th ave.; 8th st.— 6th ave 24 

Inwood 257 

Iron Steamboat Line (Pier 1.) -Battery Place— All lines — 31 

Isabella Home 255 

Italian Quarter 143 

Jefferson Market Police Court— 8th st.— 6th ave 172 

Jersey City 18 

Jersey City Ferry— Desbrosses— 9th ave.; Grand— 2d 3d. 6tli 32. 33 

Jersey Coast 266 

John Street M. E. Church 121 

John Street Theatre 122 

Judr/e Buildinsr 1 '3 

Judson iMemorial Church 169 



279 

PAGE 

Jumel Mansion 256 

Juvenile Asylum 255, 256 

Knickerbocker Club 181 

Lafayette, Statue of 166 

Law Court s 58 

Lehigh Valley R. R.— (see Pennsylvania R.R.) 

Liberty Enlightening the Word— (.see Bartholdi Statue) . 

Lenox Library 226 

Libraries 43 

Lighthouse Hill 267 

Lincoln. Statue of 166 

" Litt'e Church Around the Corner " 180 

Long Branch 268 

Long Island 18, 264 

Long Island R.R.— 34th Street Ferry— 2d and 3d aves 27 

Long Island Sound 18 

Lotus Club 173 

Ludlow Street Jail 151 

Madison Square —Twenty-third street— All lines 176 

Madison Square Garden— 28th street— 3d and 6th aves 180 

Maiden lane 119 

Manhattan Beach— (see Bay Ridge Ferry and L. I. R.R.) 

Manhattan Co.'s Bank .* Ill 

Manhattan Club 182 

Manhattan Elev'ated Railway 36 

Manliatran Island 11 

Marine Hospital 77 

Masonic Temple — Twenty-third street- 6th ave 174 

Meissonier's ' Friedland. 1807." 217 

Menagerie— (see Central Park . ) 

Messenger Service 53 

Metropolitan Museum of Art— 84th street— 3d ave 202 

Metropolitan Opera House . . 183 

Money 68 

Montgomery. Major-Gen. , Monument to 125 

Morgue • 260 

Mount Sinai Hospital 251 

Mulberry street 143 

Murray Hill 181 

Museums 4.-, 

Mutual Life Building 117 

Narrows, The 17 

Navy Yard 264 

New Court House 136 

New Jersey Coast 266 

New Jersey Southern R. R.— Rector St.— 6th & 9th aves 27 

Newsboys' Lodging House 142 

Newspapers 43 

New York and New Haven R. R.— 42d street— All lines 2 5 

New York and Northern R. R.— 1.55tli street— 6th ave 28 

N. Y. Central & Hudson R. R.— Forty-second st.— All lines. . 26 
N. Y., Lake Erie & Western R. R.— Chambers— 6th ave.; 

Warren— 9th ave.; 23d St.— 6th and 9th aves 28 

New York Hospital 173 

Normal College 251 

North German Lloyd, (see Bremen Line.) 

North River 18 



280 

PAGE 

Obelisk— 8Jth street— 3d ave 240 

Oldest House in New York VM 

Oyster Saloons 42 

Paradise Park 14G 

Park Row 127, 131, 132, 142 

Pavonia Ferry-(see N. Y., L. E. & W. K. K.) 

Pennsylvania R. R.— Same as Jersey City Ferry 28 

Picture Exhibitions 45 

Pier A 77 

Police Headquarters 152 

Political Divisions 15 

Polish Jew Quarter 150 

Population 12 

Postal Information 49 

Post Office— City Hall— 2d and 3d aves.; Park pl.-Cth ave. . 127 

Presbyterian Hospital 251 

Printing House Square 132 

Produce Exchange— Battery place— Gth and Dtli aves 81 

Prospect Park 264 

Providence Line for Boston— Chambers St.— Gth ave 31 

P^/cA; Building 152 

Pulitzer Building 132 

Quarantine 17 

Railroads — 26 

Railway Guides 68 

Randall's Island 262 

Real Estate Exchange 118 

Red Star Line— (see Jersey City Ferry) 23 

Register's Office 136 

Reservoirs 13,183 

Restaurants 31 

Riding . . 65 

Riverside Park— Seventy-second street— 6th ave 253 

Rogues' Gallery 153 

Roman Catholic Orphan Asvlum 195 

Roosevelt Hospital— Fifty-ninth street— 9th ave 200 

Roosevelt Street Ferry— Franklin Square— 2d and 3d aves. . 32 

Rosa Bonheur's " Horse Fair." 216 

St. Augustine's Chapel— Houston street— 3d ave 151 

St. Bartholomew Mission 184 

St. Bartholomew's P. E. Church 185 

St. Francis Xavier's R. C. Church 173 

St. George's P. E. Church 167 

St. Joseph's Home 154 

St. Luke's Hospital 199 

St. Mark's P. E. Church 160 

St. Patrick's R. C.Cathedral— .50th St.— 6th av.; 53d St.— 3d a v. 189 

St. Paul's P. E. Church— Park Place - 6th ave 125 

St. Thomas' P. E. Church 199 

Sandy Hook l" 

Seward, W. H.. Statue of 177 

Signal Service, U. s 117 

Sloane Maternity Hospital 200 

Slumming 144 

South Ferrv -South Ferry—All lines 33 

Staten Island 18. 273 

Staten Island Ferry— Soutli Ferry— All lines 33 



281 

PAGE 

Statistics. . 11 

Statue of Liberty— (see Baitlio.di Statue.) 

Steamboats 30 

Steamships 23 

Stewart, A. T 160. 1U4 

Stock Exchange— (See Wall street) l»:j 

Stock Exchange (Consolidated)— Rector— 6th & Dth aves 87 

Stores 5") 

Street Car Lines 34 

Street Plan 13 

Structures. Number of 1:2 

Studio Building 1 ^-i 

Studios V,2 

Stuyvesant, Petrus 79, 160 

Sub-Treasury, U. S 101 

S>f/i 13a 

Swamp, The 141 

Tammany Hall 167 

Telegraph Rates 53 

Telephone 52 

Temple Emanu-El 185 

Tennis 66 

Theatres 44 

Times 1 32 

Tombs, the 148 

Topography 11 

Tribune 132 

Trinity Cemetery 255, 257 

Trinity Church— Rector street— 6th and 9th aves ^8 

rurf 65 

Twenty-third Street Ferry— 23d street— All lines 32 

Jnion Club- Twenty-third street— 6th and 3d aves 173 

LJnlon League Club 182 

LFnion Square— Fourteenth street— All lines 166 

University Club 180 

University Building 169 

Jniversity of the City of New York 169 

k^aaderbilt Clinic 200 

V^'anderbillt, " Commodore,' Biography of 198 

Vanderbilt Houses 195 

Vanderbilt Picture Gallery 197 

Variety Performances 45 

Wall street— Rector St. , West side ; Hanover Sq., East side. 97 

Ferry— Hanover Square— 2d and 3d aves 32 

Ward's Island 267 

Wasliiugton Ai-ch 171 

Washington at St. Paul's Chapel 127 

Washington's Inauguration 102 

Washington Market 123 

Washington Square— Eighth street— 6tli ave 169 

Washington Relics— (see Met. Mus. of Art and Lenox Lib.) 

Washington Statue at U. S. Sub-Treasury 103 

on Union Square 166 

Washington, Trumbull's Portrait of 134 

other Portraits of (see Lenox Library), 

Water Front ' 15 

Waxworks 45 



' — >,- 

■'4- 

^^^ ^ 4/r ^~ • - < 

PAGE 

Weehawken Ferry— Forty-second street— All lines 33 

West Point \ 272 

Western Union Building 119 

West Sli( »re R.R.— Forty-second street— All lines 28 

Will.'fs I'oint 18 

^\■illiamsl)urff Ferry— Grand street— 2d and 3d aves 32 

White stiir Line— Christopher street— 9th ave 24 

1JV//A/ I'.uiidinf? 132 

W orth, Ma.ior-General. Montiment to 1T& 

Yountr Men's Christian Association 174 

Young' Women's Christian Association 167 



-^2l}?^n? 



Eleetrotypcil and Priuteil l)y De Letniw & Oppeuhehnt^r, N. Y 



